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| slam
- Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:56 am |
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I have a question about edema, specifically massive edema in my lower left leg and not in my right leg. What can cause this ? I have been obese for many years but my left leg is swelling to almost twice the size of my right leg is 6 or 8 months old.
What could this be?
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| Theresa Jones, RN
- Sat Feb 12, 2005 9:16 am |
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 Hi slam,
Do you have any redness or warmth in the affected leg? If you were to take your foot and point your toes upward toward your chest is there any pain in the calf? Has this problem ever been evaluated by a physician and if so what were the conclusions.
Sincerely,
Rntdj
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| slam
- Sat Feb 12, 2005 9:30 pm |
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If I point my toes toward my chest my calf does not hurt , but because of the swelling I can barely point my toes upward. And yes the skin of my lower leg is red and warm. This has NOT been evaluated by any doctor . I came to this website no help me gain an understanding of what might be wrong with me.
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| Theresa Jones, RN
- Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:37 am |
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Hi slam,
The reason I asked the questions was to have a better understanding of what may be the problem. There are certain positions that the foot can be manipulated when assessing someone for signs and symptoms of a blood clot, which apparently seems probably not to be so in your case. If the redness, tenderness, warmth, and swelling has increased in size over a period of time I would be more inclined to consider cellulitis of which the symptoms appear to coincide. As you well know it would be impossible for anyone to "diagnose" a problem online, the purpose is to give supportive information, not to replace an evaluation by your physician.
Sincerely,
Rntdj
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| slam
- Mon Feb 14, 2005 1:22 am |
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what is cellulitis ?
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| Theresa Jones, RN
- Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:36 am |
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Hi slam,
Cellulitis is inflammation of the skin and may be caused by a bacterial infection. When bacteria enters the skin by any means, insect, animal bite, injury or trauma, etc. it causes the skin in that area to become inflamed, red, and tender. As the infection spreads so does the inflammation, redness and tenderness. Again I'm not saying that this is your problem but it is something I would consider. In my opinion, I would have an evaluation done.
Sincerely,
Rntdj
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