A man who took to social media after his legs “turned into playdough” has revealed it’s down to a silent killer illness.
Olympian Lawrence Okoye posted a clip to TikTok which showed him pressing his thumb into his leg.
As the athlete pushed down six times, seemingly permanent dents appeared.
“It looks like I’m made out of playdough,” he remarked.
He loaded the viral video with one warning comment describing the content as “nasty”.
Two weeks after posting the first clip, the 31-year-old revealed he had been diagnosed with cellulitis, The Sun reports.
Viewers in the comments initially rushed to diagnose the Okoye, speculating that the dimpling was caused by “fluid retention” or “pitting edema.”
Users also cracked a few jokes, with one quipping, “Bro turned into memory foam.” “Bro can play connect the dots anywhere,” another joked.
However, the correct diagnosis has ended up being far from a laughing matter.
Okoye has explained in a recent video the skin infection developed after he “smashed up” his leg a few weeks prior to the first video being posted in December.
Cellulitis can be treated with antibiotics, but can be life-threatening if it’s not treated swiftly, health officials advise.
Untreated, it can lead to silent killers such as sepsis and rarely the infection can spread to the deep layer of tissue called the fascial lining.
It can also lead to amputation, shock and even death.
In the second video, Lawrence, who competed in track, is no longer able to knead his legs like dough.
He said: “A tonne of people were trying to tell me I had heart disease or liver disease, kidney disease, cancer and diabetes but obviously that’s not the case.
“I had an infection called cellulitis, It’s basically bacteria that gets into your system from an open wound.”
Lawrence then points to scars on his legs, from where he says he ‘smashed his leg’ a couple of weeks ago’.
This was why he experienced the oedema, he said.
Oedema is a build up of fluid which causes tissue to become swollen and is usually caused by standing or sitting in the same place for too long.
“Those crazy holes that were in my leg no longer exist,” he said.
Cellulitis can make your skin hot and painful, with the area usually looking red.
It’s often as referred to a silent killer as symptoms can often be disguised as other skin conditions.
However, guidance states that this might be less obvious on black or brown skin.
In mild cases, doctors will prescribe antibiotic tablets for a week.
If you don’t start to feel better in 2-3 days then you should call your GP.
Most people make a full recovery after 7-10 days.
— This story originally appeared on thesun.co.uk and has been republished with permission
