Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Swollen Legs and Ankles

Recent studies show that swollen legs and ankles should be given attention when you see that it is becoming severe because if it is only caused by an injury, you should expect it to go back immediately to its normal appearance. Leg problems are usually caused by your veins. First, we need to understand why this is so by explaining how veins in your leg work. We know that the primary function of a vein is to give back the deoxygenated blood to the heart and lungs. The valves found on our veins closes to pull up the blood and to not allow it to flow downward. When these valves are destroyed, it will no longer close; therefore, blood will pool on the veins in the legs and ankles causing them to swell. This can indicate different venous problems such as phlebitis, superficial thrombophlebitis, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI).
If you have CVI, it means that you have a weak valve that is why you will experience pain in your legs, swelling, skin discoloration, and it can even cause varicose vein and venous leg ulcer. DVT is even worse than CVI because the blood clot that it causes can reach the bloodstream in the lungs and will result to a grave illness called pulmonary embolism. You can easily distinguish if DVT is your problem because swelling will be accompanied by shortness of breath. The common treatments for these vein diseases are varicose vein removal with sclerotherapy and radiofrequency ablation treatment.
Unlike our arteries, the deoxygenated blood carried through our veins is not pumped as it goes back to the heart and lungs. To prevent the mentioned vein diseases, it is necessary to exercise, elevate your feet, avoid excessive heat, control your weight, and have compression therapy (by wearing compression stockings) because all these promote good venous circulation.