Swollen foot-again
 

yes i know i posted about this ages ago, but ever since i did that cut, my foot keeps swelling whenever i leave my leg down for more than an hour. when i keep it up it dones't swell. it's just that one foot, what is this because of? i've been to the doctors quite a lot of times about the cut, and they say its not infected, and the reason that it was swollen was because i wasn't walking on it very much, but if thats true, why isn't my other foot swollen too? it's just the one on the leg of that cut, which still has a few cm wide of scab left in the middle of it. sorry if that didn't make much sense.

it's just really annoying me, because i can feel my foot getting all pudgy and weird-a bit like a tempur mattress, you can push into it and it will stay depressed for a bit. lol. plus i can't always fit into my shoes, so if anyone knows a way to cure it, or stop it, aside from keeping it up(because thats not all that practical), that would be great. thanks:)

hey,
it sounds like oedema, which is just water retention. its possible as the gp says it cos your not walk on it much-by doing this the muscles in that leg arent working as hard as the other leg and the calf is the main muscle responsible for pumping the blood back from the foot up the leg. my adv walk as normal as poss, also when resting like watching tv etc sit with you legs on a raised cushion/poofe etc and that will aid gravity and help pump the blood.
hope that helps a bit :)

i am walking normally on it though! :( i do try and keep it elevated when watching tv, it's just when i at college all day at the computer, or on the computer at home, or crafting that it stays down for long periods and it swells.

thanks though! :)

keep an eye on it, write when its worse ie if youve been on it for a long time or worse after rest etc then gp can use this information. if concerned could also ask gp to do a doppler test which is like what they use to listen to babies heart beats but can get one which test foot pulses just to check everything is ok with the circulation which im sure it is. also could ask gp to refer you to a poditrist (foot person-like what i am) and they could prob give you more advice if they look at it. :) take care xx

It sounds like oedema which is where there is an increase in tissue fluid (lymph). Lymph tends to collect for a number of reasons, high blood pressure, damage to the lymphatic drainage, not walking on it, pregnancy amongst other disorders. I think we can establish that its not from lack of exercise/ high blood pressure as this would tend to affect both legs (though it may be an idea just to get your BP checked, it only takes a minute, many pharmacy's will do it now if you don't want to go to your doctors).

Lymph drainage does help if you put your feet up which is why I think this is the problem especially as there isn't any infection left. This is because if you have your feet down gravity aids the lymph to pool down in your feet rather than be taken back up your vessels. It could be that when you cut your leg, with it being quite deep you may have knicked your lyph vessel and as that's healed it is slightly damged. Or that as your tissue has healed there could be some surrounding scar tissue that's constricting (narrowing) your lymph vessel(s) a bit.

There isn't really a cure. Keep your feet up when you can and if it worsens/ doesn't start to get better go and see a doctor to see if they have any ideas/ want to do further checks.

KimA

thanks for the help, that sucks that there not much i can do, but oh well, it's my own fault. :)

Hopefully with time it will start to get better, if it doesn't, go and see a doctor because I might not be right I just know from experience what it sounds like now that it's not infected and it goes when you exercise. It's the sort of thing that, depending on the reason, is likely to reduce/ go all together with time and I know cases where this has occurred for no reason for a few days and then goes altogether.

You don't feel ill at all do you? It can be caused by circulatory problems/ some conditions (aswell as BP as I've already mentioned) but then I'd expect it to affect both legs.

nope, i feel fine apart from being tired, but thats cos i haven't had much sleep. the last time my blood pressure was checked was about 6 weeks ago, and apparently it was pretty low, though it normally is quite high. theres a machine in the docs where you can check it yourself, shame i don't know what the printout means lol!

will go and get it checked out if it doesn't get better in a few weeks.

also-there is still yellowy clear stuff running from it constantly when it is down, which is another reason I try and keep it up, do you know what that is?

thanks very much, i really appreciate your help! :)

It could be just the fluid from your wound healing, a small amount is normal. Or it could be tissue fluid but as your wound is almost healed that shouldn't be there and I wouldn't expect that anyway unless you have punctured one of your lymph vessels (tubes that are like veins but transport your tissue fluid up to your shoulders/neck). I would have thought they would heal up pretty quickly now though and it's weeks after you cut and I think you got it looked at didn't you? Did you cut through a vein? Have you got a dressing over the bit of the wound that still hasn't healed, it may be a good idea.

Has this swelling gotten worse since you last saw a doctor? If it has I think that it might be a good idea to get it checked over by your doctor again. Its hard to say without seeing it, but it sounds to me a little bit like Cellulitis. This is a bacteria that gets into the skin and lymph nodes. It can be treated with antibiotics and good wound care, but it can get worse if left untreated.

Take care
KimB

i keep a dressing over it at all times, the doc prescribed me a huge amount of dressings. I have to cover it, because when i at college, it leaks when my foot is down, even with the dressing it fills up of the weird yellowy clear stuff at the bottom, and starts coming out of the dressing.
i didn't cut through a vein-i don't think. for the size of the wound there actually wasn't that much blood.

i dunno if the swelling has got worse, i think it's about the same..

thanks for all the advice :)