poorly legs

[kitten_uk2]

hi there, my mum has had trouble with her ankles for a couple of months, it started as a little red mark on one ankle, and now one foot is completely red and the skin is tight and its hard, she says its very painful, her other ankle is starting to look the same, the doctors dont seem to be much use, and have given her some antibiotics she has been taking for a month, but its just getting worse not better. any body know of this problem??? and what could it be?

[Sqad]

This may well be a "big deal" as it sounds like cellulitis and if she is aged, her circulation may not be normal and one must also consider late onset diabetes.
Antibiotics, which are not working, could be due to many factors.

Mu opinion...........she needs to be referred to a Specialist.

[rowanwitch]

Agree with sqad, I would also suggest she needs a new GP It should not be left that long without a hospital referral. She may need a few days of intravenous antibiotics and to see a nurse who specialises in patient skin care as cellulitis can leave the skin more fragile afterwards your mum may need advice for after it has calmed down.

I've had it, younger people can get it too and it is extremely painful and your mum might be playing down the discomfort with the GP as well especially if she is the sort who doesn't like to be a nuisance. Can you go with her to her next appointment and ask for a referral if your mum doesn't feel she can.

hope she is better soon

[Eve]

Sounds like how my cellulitis went as well, it's nasty and needs proper treatment quickly (or, if not that, proper investigation). I ended up at the minor injuries unit at the local A&E with mine as it was very swollen as well and I'm on immunosuppressants.

I was given Co-Amoxiclav on a very high dose and it still flared up again after that. They said they had me on the highest dose they could of the antibiotic equivalent of domestos so were a bit flummoxed!

They suggested keeping my foot raised about my head for at least 48 hours and it did the trick :)

Still took a while to get back to normal but it got shut of the infection along with the antibiotics.

[northernmonkey]

spellings slightly wrong but google will get meaning if you dont already know

porasis

See GP for referral to skin specialists to see help they offer you ect

[shaneystar2]

Psoriasis and cellulitis are two completely different things northernmonkey and this sounds exactly like cellulitis .

Your Mum should go back to the GP kitten_uk2 asap.
They should be checking for blood clots with an ultrasound as it could be vascular which they did with me . A month is too long to be putting up with this especially the pain which is awful .
I had a dose of this almost a year ago now caused by bites and it's still giving me trouble .I had a double dose of antiobiotics and it swelled so much the skin split and ulcerated . It cleared up then came back again and I still have the infection under the skin little or much.
.In the meantime slap plenty of moisturiser of some bland sort on it to keep the skin soft and prevent it splitting and keep the leg elevated as much as possible .A support sock can help too.
I hope your Mum is feeling better in the meantime .It's a nasty thing and can take a long time to get shot of .