What Causes Swelling In The Leg?

Posted on Fri, 14 Oct 2016

Question: my left leg swelled up below my knee to above my ankle I put it down to my socks being too tight cos I had been wearing them for about 13 hours and I had also flown from auckland to gisborne and then driven 2 hours to my home and after a shower i noticed the swelling it had gone down some by the morning, there is no pain with it and i have been keeping an eye on it. It still has a slight swelling to the leg muscle still no pain with it. Should I be worried or ?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Sharma (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
No there is no need to worry about this

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I have studied your case. I think you have a condition which is called as dependent edema. In this condition there is swelling in leg and ankle.It is common in patient with heart or blood pressure problem. I have following suggestions for you.
1.Keep on moving your ankle up and down so it will compress your calf muscle and swelling will decrease.
2.Hot water fomentation
3.Check your blood pressure, as it may be sign that your BP is high.
4.This swelling if reoccur then you need to check your heart function. At present you can just relax.
I hope this answer will be useful for you.Let me know if there is any other followup questions.
thanks

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Veerisetty Shyamkumar