Legs are an important part of the human body, an organ of support and movement. The problems that happen to them can be associated not only with physical activity, but also indicate hidden diseases; severe pain in the lower extremities can signal a number of complications. Ankle swelling is a common occurrence that occurs every day and is often caused by fatigue and stress, but not always. When the ankle joint is swollen and painful, how to treat this ailment should be prescribed by a doctor based on the diagnosis. Often, when receiving a bruise, the victim does not seek qualified medical help, which can also lead to negative consequences.
The leg at the ankle consists of the intersection of three bones:
Due to the fact that they are connected by dense tendons and muscles, these joints have significant activity.
When the ankle joint swells, the soft tissues become inflamed, causing discomfort and pain while walking. Therefore, if your foot is swollen, you should consult a doctor, and after a thorough analysis, he will prescribe the necessary treatment. You should not initially rely on folk remedies; it is better to stick to traditional medicine.
Ankle swelling can be caused by a number of factors. From ordinary injuries (bruise, fracture) to diseases of internal organs, when swelling of the foot is only an external feature. Causes and treatment are interconnected; there are no universal drugs; a doctor will help you understand the sources of the problem. The most likely factors why the ankle joint is swollen:
The most popular reason why our feet suffer. Damage of this type is:
Ankle sprains. After stretching, internal hemorrhage and acute pain occur. In this condition, it is difficult to step on the injured leg;
A bruise, as in all other cases, is characterized by swelling and pain at the site of injury, but to a minor extent.
Rapid swelling in the ankle may indicate a fracture. On palpation there is clearly expressed pain; due to severe pain, it is impossible to step on the foot.
Pain and swelling in the ankle joint can be caused by a sprain. If you follow a rest regime, this problem will go away on its own within two weeks.
Important! Pain, swelling and discoloration of the skin of the ankle are completely proportional to the degree of injury; the more pronounced these symptoms are, the more serious the injury.
This disease leads to partial dysfunction of the joint. If treatment is not prescribed on time, or is not followed, this can lead to many negative consequences, including disability.
Sometimes arthrosis is a complication after a foot injury, in which one of the three bones included in the crossing was injured. In this case, the covering of the damaged bone becomes rough and lumpy, which impairs the performance of the joint and injures it even more during loads. This is what causes the ankle to become swollen and painful.
Symptoms in this case may vary depending on the complexity of the disease. Starting from the fact that slight swelling of the ankle joint is possible, ending with the most severe cases, during which the body temperature rises due to severe inflammation.
This disease is a rather serious problem because it affects the human musculoskeletal system.
One of the reasons why your legs swell may be arthritis. Acute or chronic inflammatory process, the ankle area becomes swollen, reddened, hot, accompanied by pain and impaired mobility. Arthritis is characterized by irreversible joint deformation, destruction of articular cartilage, and changes in tendons. Treatment can only slow down the process and relieve painful symptoms during an exacerbation.
If your leg is swollen around the ankle joint, this may be a sign of a bacterial or viral infection. In addition, this form of illness is characterized by fever and pain. Treatment includes medications that fight a particular group of microorganisms.
If the swelling is caused by problems with blood circulation, then it usually occurs not on one leg, but symmetrically. Painful sensations are absent or insignificant. A tumor of the ankle joint in this case occurs due to blockage of blood vessels, their narrowing, or varicose veins.
In this state, even moderate level physical activity becomes impossible.
If the ankle joint is swollen and painful, this disease may be the cause. It is characterized by chronic, aching pain that occurs even at rest. The occurrence of gout is based on the accumulation of uric acid and a decrease in its excretion by the kidneys, which leads to an increase in the concentration of the latter in the blood. Clinically, gout is manifested by recurrent acute arthritis and the formation of gouty nodes - tophi (foci of pathological compaction of the subcutaneous tissue).
When the ankle joint is swollen, tendonitis is often the cause. It manifests itself after tendon rupture, injury or infection. In this case, they become very inflamed and the legs begin to hurt in the foot area. And tendinitis is also characterized by swelling, which increases at night, and a local increase in temperature.
The main risk group includes people who most of the time load their lower limbs, for whom bruises or fractures are not uncommon (athletes).
Ankle swelling is easy to detect with the naked eye. It is secreted by swelling, enlargement of the inner or outer side of the foot. In other cases, the symptoms differ depending on the underlying cause. Thus, when the ankle joint is sprained, acute pain is characteristic, as is the case with arthritis and gout.
In addition, there are more rare symptoms, for example, with psoriatic arthritis, swelling of the ankle joint is accompanied by red rashes and spreads to the toes. If this disease is septic (infectious) in nature, then the joints will greatly increase in size and will be accompanied by pain with a possible increase in body temperature.
In case of edema, only a doctor can help with diagnosis and making the correct diagnosis.
To determine the cause of ankle swelling, your doctor may use the following diagnostic methods:
For ankle swelling, the causes, treatment and follow-up procedures depend on an accurate and timely diagnosis.
What to do and how to relieve swelling of the lower leg? If the ankle joint is swollen, then only a doctor should prescribe treatment, but the following methods and medications can be used to reduce the primary painful symptoms:
Treatment should be aimed not only at eliminating swelling as a symptom, but also at treating the root cause:
The doctor will tell you how to cure ankle joint diseases and prescribe a course that must be followed.
Treatment with folk remedies for such symptoms is allowed after consultation with a doctor, and only after establishing the exact reason why the leg is swollen. But ice from chamomile decoction and parsley infusion will help reduce the swelling area (finely chop a bunch of greens, pour 200 ml of boiling water, after 15 minutes have passed, you can drink the decoction, 50 ml 3 times a day).
If you have a swollen ankle and, observing the swollen surfaces, there is no improvement within several days, then you should seek medical help. After all, for swelling of the ankle joint, treatment consists of identifying and eliminating the root cause, and the tumor will go away along with the underlying disease as a symptom.
A leg bruise is one of the most common types of injuries, which is why you need to know how to remove swelling from a leg after a bruise. Bruises can vary in severity, the most severe ones are accompanied by swelling and swelling. Of course, you can wait until the symptoms disappear on their own, but it is better to relieve pain and reduce swelling by using fairly simple methods.
The blow causes small vessels to rupture, from which blood leaks. This is the first symptom of a bruise, after which swelling may appear. An effective way to combat swelling is a cold compress, which significantly reduces swelling.
If cold is applied immediately after a bruise, this will reduce the amount of blood and thereby prevent severe swelling.
Instead of a compress, you can put ice on the injury, wrapping it in a cloth. If you don’t have ice on hand, you can use a towel or handkerchief soaked in ice water, but to get the desired effect, you will have to change the compress often, since the handkerchief will heat up quickly from the body.
If you bruise your leg, an iodine mesh will help relieve swelling and swelling; to do this, it will need to be applied to the site of injury. If the bruise is severe enough and the hematoma is clearly expressed, the swelling is removed using lotions. You can use a mixture of apple cider vinegar, iodine and salt. This compress must be applied to the site of impact.
Swelling can also be relieved with the help of medications. Medicines contain natural oils and herbs: Troxevasin, Travumsel, Badyaga. In most cases, people are more accustomed to using traditional methods, which give very good results. For lotions, infusions prepared from various herbs are used. In this case, the following herbs are perfect:
Each herb is good both individually and in combination with any others. To prepare the infusion, you need to brew a few tablespoons of the selected herb with boiling water. The sooner the herbal mixture is used after the injury, the faster the swelling will go away.
No one is immune from bruises, bruises and abrasions. The injury can and, most importantly, needs to be treated as quickly as possible. But since a bruise can be located in different parts of the body, each of them must be treated in a certain way. The leg represents a large area where the lower leg, knee, and foot are located. Each of these parts is subject to all sorts of injuries, so you need to know how to deal with the damage.
Fans of an active lifestyle suffer most from bruises of the kneecap. In case of injury to the knee, it is necessary not only to apply cold to the site of the injury, but also to fix the person’s position in a motionless state. A severe bruise threatens to cause the kneecap to fall out. It is necessary to find a comfortable position as quickly as possible. If the injury occurred in an apartment, you will need to take a supine position as quickly as possible, placing a pillow under your thigh. If you are on the street, then after the blow you need to sit down on a nearby bench or curb, and then raise your leg so that your shin is higher than your thigh. For knee bruises, doctors advise using Collagen cream, which relieves swelling and helps to quickly restore the functions of the injured limb.
A shin bruise is one of the most serious. A blow to the area of the muscles located near the bone is the most dangerous. There are many pain receptors here, which is why this bruise is dangerous not only because of the appearance of swelling, but also because of the painful shock that can cause severe pain. In this area of the leg, the tumor is growing. To prevent serious complications, a special cream must be applied after using a cold compress. The cream can be purchased or homemade. You can make an ointment from the juice of aloe leaves mixed with honey. The mixture is quickly absorbed by the skin, and the swelling will subside faster. This must be done as quickly as possible, avoiding the development of a strong tumor.
A foot bruise can lead to frequent fractures of small bones. This circumstance accompanies a foot bruise in most cases. That is why after an injury it is necessary to examine the leg in as much detail as possible in order to exclude the possibility of fractures. To do this, you need to slowly and carefully palpate the foot at the site of the bruise.
If sharp pain occurs in at least one place, then this is a reason to take an x-ray. But since the photo will not relieve pain or prevent swelling, it is recommended to use cooling bandages in the first hours of the injury. In the future, the use of warming bandages is required, which must be applied to the foot over the next 5 days. The use of pain-relieving ointments will be helpful.
To remove swelling of the finger, after a bruise, a long massage with an ice cube is required. A massage performed in the first hours will reduce swelling. After a bruise, your foot and toe need rest; you will have to give up tight shoes and long walks for a while.
The exception is people with diabetes; they should not resort to cooling the injury site. In their case, only ointments and creams can be used to relieve swelling.
The leg is largely responsible for human movement. It’s not very convenient when, due to a minor injury or bruise, you have to limit your movements and disrupt your usual way of life. Even with the slightest injury, you want to reduce the pain as quickly as possible and return to your normal rhythm of life. Special medications will help shorten the treatment period:
In folk medicine, there are many different ways to quickly relieve swelling from a bruised area:
Swelling may last for approximately 3 weeks. The methods listed above can reduce this period. If after this time there is no relief and the bruise continues to bother you, immediate consultation with a doctor is required.
Recent medical research shows that foot swelling is quite common, especially among older people. Foot swelling can be a reaction to certain medications, a consequence of obesity, as well as other serious diseases.
Foot edema is a symptom that manifests itself in the form of enlargement and swelling of the foot, caused by the accumulation of fluid in the soft tissues. Usually this condition is accompanied by unpleasant sensations, and not only in the limbs.
Edema can occur sporadically and be the body’s reaction to some external irritant, or it can be chronic. In the latter case, the cause of edema is often diseases of internal organs or disturbances in the functioning of body systems.
There are a huge number of causes of leg swelling. Among them are general diseases, as well as directly pathologies of the lower extremities.
Swelling of the legs can be unilateral or bilateral, and has varying degrees of severity (swelling of the fingers and toes, or up to the thigh). Based on these signs, as well as additional symptoms, the doctor can give the patient a specific diagnosis.
The cause of foot swelling is the accumulation of a large amount of fluid in the tissues. This phenomenon is also sometimes called peripheral edema. Gravity pulls fluid down toward the legs, causing the feet to swell. Swelling of the feet and legs can also be the result of injury or diseases that are somehow associated with inflammation. Symptoms associated with swollen feet include:
In a healthy person, swelling of the foot is episodic and goes away quite quickly. A common cause of foot swelling is overuse of the lower extremities. Typically, this problem is faced by people who, due to profession or circumstances, spend a lot of time on their feet. Also, swelling of the feet can appear in those people who lead a sedentary and sedentary lifestyle.
Common causes of foot swelling:
Shoes with completely flat soles or high heels can cause swelling of the foot. It is better to choose shoes with low heels that will not squeeze your toes and will allow your toes to be placed in an anatomically correct position.
During pregnancy, swelling of the legs and feet occurs in almost all women. They can have various causes and consequences:
Swelling in pregnant women can be very severe - sometimes there is swelling of the arms and legs and even the face. An obstetrician conducts a study, during which it turns out that there is an increased level of protein in the woman’s urine. This condition requires hospital treatment.
Mostly swelling of the legs during pregnancy is a normal physiological phenomenon. But still, a woman should visit a doctor to have an examination and exclude or prevent an incipient disease.
The list of diseases, one of the manifestations of which is foot swelling, is impressive.
In this case, the swelling is initially mild, but soon becomes more pronounced with the development of varicose veins. Swelling is usually concentrated on one leg, usually the left, disappears after sleep, appears in the evening and can occur again after lunch.
This is due to the following reasons. The walls of the veins and their valves include connective tissue, which in some people, especially those susceptible to varicose veins, is too weak and can stretch too much - this is the most important answer to the question of why legs swell with varicose veins. Factors that contribute to blood stagnation and overstretching of veins with varicose veins are:
Swelling of the legs often indicates the initial manifestation of varicose veins. They appear in the evenings, various unpleasant sensations are noted, a feeling of heaviness, pain, numbness or tingling of the fingers, severe fatigue of the legs.
Edema is quite easy to distinguish from others, as it is accompanied by swelling of both lower extremities, eyelids and dark circles under the eyes. The color of urine may change and the quantity may be reduced. Such swelling is usually not characterized by pain and itching. They often occur after an infectious disease - this indicates that the kidneys have been damaged due to infection.
Acute thrombophlebitis, “paired” with which pain, redness and fever are observed. Sometimes the cause of swelling of the legs is thrombophlebitis of the deep veins of the lower extremities. Factors provoking the development of the disease:
Modern pharmacies offer a large number of remedies for swelling of the legs. They are mainly intended to relieve swelling caused by heat, excess fluid and salt intake, fatigue, the initial stages of varicose veins and heart failure:
If the cause of foot swelling is an imbalance in the water balance in the body, it is necessary to exclude salt from the diet or reduce its amount as much as possible. It is advisable to drink no more than one and a half to two liters of water per day, so as not to overload the kidneys and not prevent excess fluid from leaving the body.
Treatment of the initial diseases that cause edema is carried out only by a medical specialist. Timely seeking medical help will help to promptly identify diseases of the heart, liver, kidneys and other organs. And competent effective treatment will help get rid of the symptom and prevent more serious complications.
Varicose veins and thrombophlebitis, even in the initial stages, are also treated with the participation of a doctor. It is possible to determine the extent of the disease, the cause and dynamics of development, as well as select the appropriate treatment only after research - ultrasound with Dopplerography or venography.