Why We're Concerned About Leg Swelling

If you’ve ever taken a long flight, you might notice some minor puffiness in your feet and ankles, which occurs because you haven’t moved all that much and fluids have collected at the lowest point in your body.

If you’re experiencing this leg swelling on a daily basis, however, it’s likely a warning flag of a more concerning venous issue that can lead to foot, ankle, and leg wounds.

The medical term for this type of swollen leg is edema, and this is one symptom that Dr. Thomas Rambacher and the team here at Foot Ankle Leg Wound Care Orange County don’t want you to ignore. And here’s why.

Behind your swollen legs

If your lower legs and feet are puffy and there’s no obvious musculoskeletal issue, the odds are fairly good that you have edema — or fluid buildup in your tissues. In most cases of edema, we can trace the cause back to chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), which affects up to 35% of adults in the United States.

Under normal circumstances, the veins in your legs have, arguably, the toughest job of all your blood vessels because they have to fight gravity and distance to get blood back up to your heart and lungs for oxygen. To help with the effort, the veins in your legs are equipped with small, one-way valves that shut after blood passes through to prevent it from spilling backward.

When you have CVI, these valves weaken and don’t close all the way, which allows blood to pool in your legs. When this happens, the pressure inside your veins rises, which can force fluids out into surrounding tissues, creating swollen and puffy legs.

Outside of edema, another common result of CVI are varicose veins, which affect up to 35% of Americans as well.

When leg swelling leads to ulceration

As of right now, the puffiness in your lower legs may pose nothing more than a hassle for you — your shoes don’t fit as well or you simply don’t like the way your legs look. From where we stand as foot ulcer experts, we view this type of edema as a warning flag that you’re at risk for more serious issues, with ulceration topping that list.

Thanks to the intravenous pressure in your legs when you have edema, your skin is stretched and more vulnerable to damage. Equally concerning is the fact that the fluids in your lower legs are blocking circulation, which can lead to tissue anoxia — your tissues aren’t getting enough oxygen.

What this means is that not only does edema place you at far greater risk of ulceration, but if a wound does develop it can’t heal well thanks to the compromised circulation in your legs due to CVI.

Under normal circumstances, the presence of edema in your lower legs is something you shouldn’t ignore. If, however, you have a preexisting health condition, such as diabetes or peripheral artery disease (PAD), the leg swelling is an even bigger wake-up call to take action to protect your legs against ulceration.

And this action starts with coming to see us for a full evaluation of your leg swelling. To get started, simply call our office in Mission Viejo, California, at 949-832-6018 or request an appointment online today.