swelling ankles

[M]

Hi Cathe,

Do you ever have trouble with your ankles swelling? Mine do on a regular basis. I've read that this could mean that you're dehydrated, and you're body is trying to hold on to the water. I really don't think this is the case for me. I always try to stay well hydrated, and I don't notice any difference when I drink more or less water. I notice it mostly at night, and by morning, they're normal again. Do you know of any other causes of swelling? It's really bothersome!

Good Luck with your recovery. I know how it is to be injured (shoulder) - NO FUN!

Linda

 

[NY25]

I experience this, too. I've noticed it is most frequent when I spend a good deal of time on my feet - like if I go dancing, forget about it. My ankle bones disappear. Never thought of the dehydration factor - I'll have to pay attention to that.

 

[blkane]

This topic came up for me recently so I'll pass on what I think I understood. I had to do some blood work for an insurance policy. It came up low in Fructosamine and Albumin and I had absolutely no blood protein.

I looked all this stuff up and figured out they all relate to hydration and the need to eat more protein. It was either that or I needed a liver transplant. I decided would go with the need to drink more water and eat more protein theory.

Anyhow, to get to the point, if you albumin gets very low it can cause ankle swelling. I was surprised at that because my ankles do swell from time to time. I never would have connected it to how much protein I'm eating or how much water I'm drinking.

Here's the website. Hope this helps.

http://www.transweb.org/qa/qa_txp/faq_albumin.html

 

[M]

Thanks Brenda, I'll check out that website!

Linda

 

[Stringbean]

My ankles swell too, one more than the other. I think mine is caused by wearing knee hi pantyhose and sitting all day. My ankles will sometimes swell during the week but always go back to normal on the weekends. I put a box under my desk at work to prop my feet on and that helps a lot.

Once I went to the doctor because one of my ankles swelled quite a bit more than the other one. They thought I had a blood clot but the sonogram revealed I did not.

So now I am careful not to wear the knee hi's too tight because they seem to act as a touriquet and reduce blood circulation. And my doctor told me that ankle swelling is part of aging.

 

[M]

Hey, thanks for the info. I never thought about the tight socks thing. I never wear knee-his, but the socks I do wear are tight sometimes. I've also noticed that when I'm on my feet all day, my ankles don't swell as much.

My doctor told me the same thing about aging, but I'm closing my ears to that. I guess I'm in denial! Besides, I have an identical twin sister who doesn't have this problem. She has never done much high impact cardio like I do,though, and I've wondered if it could be related to that?

 

[blkane]

I have a hard time accepting when a doctor says health problems are a normal part of aging.

I agree about the knee-hi's. I think I'm getting spider veins around my knees for that very reason.