Did I hurt myself? #throwback #3yearsback It’s so uncool! I began running to torch those calories, trying to pump up my cardio for weight loss and to slim down. But instead, I feel my legs appear larger after a run especially when I started. My legs feel heavy, tight and uncomfortable. I can’t fit my heels or strappy sandals because they can leave mark in the form of awkward skin impressions. I always seems to get puffy on my calves, ankles and sometimes even in my fingers!
That didn’t stop me from running but literally got me running to seek for the root cause of the problem…
Leg swelling commonly occurs halfway through or after sports or recreational activities, like running, work related tasks, long airplane flights and/or any activity that requires prolonged hours on the feet (standing/walking). Leg swelling can be caused by injuries, no doubt. However, you will probably be not too surprised to know that there are several reasons that can contribute to fluid retention in the body, better known as edema. It is a warning sign when you notice leg swelling happens frequently without injury or when it is accompanied by pain. Slight edema may be hard to detect but a large amount of swelling is very obvious.
Foot, leg and ankle swelling a.k.a peripheral edema is a common sign that results when excess interstitial fluid accumulate causing the affected tissue to become swollen. It may affect just the foot and ankle or extend to the thigh, and may be slight or large.
Here are some questions I come across when my patients asked me about their swollen legs.
“I sprint last weekend and my ankle starts to hurt and there is some swelling on my leg and ankle.”
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, weight-bearing activities, especially repetitive motion such as running can cause a number of overuse injuries, that includes muscle strain and ligamentous sprain. As an effect of the damaged muscle, swelling happens, sometimes even comes with redness, heat and pain. It is the effect of a predictable inflammatory response. Redness and heat indicates increase blood flow; swelling is the result of increased movement of fluid and white blood cells. Inflammation and pain is due to the release of chemicals and compression of nerves in the area of injury. The body’s response serves to protect the injured joint or muscles from movements, hence protecting it from further injury.
“I didn’t do much vigorous exercises but I realize my leg swells up, sometimes even if I don’t do any. What should I be worried of?”
In some instances, fluid retention may be a sign of disease, some can be fatal or an alarming sign to seek emergency medical attention immediately. Here are the potential issues:
- CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE happens when the ventricles in your heart becomes inefficient to pump blood in sufficient volume to the body. Eventually, as the circulation and supply of blood towards the tissues are affected, interstitial fluid pools inside lungs, abdomen and around your ankle. In addition to water retention in ankles, sudden weight gain, fatigue and increased need to urinate at night are the first few indicators of possible congestive heart failure. CHF can be life-threatening, do seek for medical attention early so that it can be managed and reduce complications.
- CHRONIC KIDNEY FAILURE When your kidney gradually loses its function, this is called chronic kidney failure. Your kidney’s job is to filter wastes and excess fluids from you blood and then excreted in your urine. When the kidney disease progresses, the body starts building up dangerous level of fluid, electrolytes and waste. One of the symptoms are ankle swelling with no pain. Patients with chronic kidney disease can progress to end-stage kidney failure, which is fatal without dialysis (artificial filtering) or kidney transplant.
- CIRRHOSIS If you are one who drinks averagely 2 alcohol beverages per day over the course of 10 to 12 years, the National Institute of Health has shown the increased risk of developing Cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is a severe scarring of the liver caused by continuous long-term damage, from alcohol abuse or chronic viral infection. It happens when all the healthy tissue in your liver gets replaced with scar tissues and the organ begins to fail. Our liver is a very important organ, it functions to produce bile to manage fats, produces essential vitamins, purifies blood and creates blood clotting protein. As the decreased function of the liver happens, the blood circulatory system from the digestive system towards the liver undergoes increase in pressure in the veins, leading to fluid accumulation in the legs (edema) and even in abdomen (ascites). With such signs, it is important for one to get it tested and diagnosed with the help of liver function tests or an ultrasound scan of the liver.
