puffy ankles

[prendi]

also after travelling on the coach my ankles have swelled up and my calves have gone really solid,i heard this was water retention,but i have been drinking quite a bit,and weeing it out so how can i be retaining it?is it just the lack of movement whilst travelling??

[China Doll]

I had that after my long haul flight back. As soon as I got home I took a warm bath and kept walking around for a bit. I lay down a few times with my legs up against the wall so they were higher than my head. I was more or less back to normal by the evening.

[boxtops]

Put your legs up prendi, it;s the lack of movement causes the fluid to pool round the ankles, it's got nowhere else to go when you're not moving about.

[askyourgran]

I got puffy ankles after a flight from Tenerife, it had been very hot there and my feet seemed a bit swollen before the flight. When I got home I had swollen feet and ankles and after three days they were still swollen. The doctor prescribed water tablets and they eventually went back to normal.

[prendi]

thanx for all the answers it has put my mind at rest,i was thinking of dvt and all sorts ,thanx again.

[boxtops]

Prendi, dvt would be painful. If you develop pain in the legs in the next couple of days, that's when you nip straight to the hospital. Fluid should disperse though!

[prendi]

cheers again folks! sorry to be a mitherer

[Sqad]

Impaired venous blood return and slowing of the blood leading to oedema (retained fluid)
Should settle within a couple of days and is no big deal.

DVT is highly unlikely as both of your legs are involved, but as boxtops says, if one calf becomes painful then pop into A&E but this scenario is extremely unlikely.

[Eve]

I get this a lot with travelling and find keeping them cool and raised helps. When I left one hotel in Canada I remember one of the cleaning ladies running after me having found my tubigrips I've forgotton I'd left in the freezer in my room lol :)

You can get some lovely cooling foot gels too you can keep in the fridge.

I had an incident where both my legs swelled up really badly and painfully for no apparantly reason (probably my arthritis) and ended up in casualty getting it checked out and the doctor there said it's almost impossible to have DVT in both legs so if both are swollen you should be fine but, as said above, if there is pain or strange skin symptoms get it checked out.

Use it as a good excuse to sit with your feet up for a few days :)

[masma]

A little tip for next time... take an asprin before you set off on a journey, I've been told it thins your blood and helps prevent swollen ankles.