Experts have urged people to speak to a doctor if they experience a potentially painful symptom in the feet that does not go away. Swollen feet could signal a myriad of dangerous health issues, from heart failure to blood clots. It’s not uncommon to experience swelling in your feet and ankles every now and then. It can occur after a lot of walking, standing, or in hot weather.
If this is the case, resting and elevating your feet is usually enough to restore them to normal. However, if the swelling continues, it could signal something far more serious. Experts at Harvard Medical School in the US explained: “If it persists, you likely need to see a doctor because swelling (also called oedema) can be a red flag for a more serious underlying problem, such as heart failure, deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot in a leg vein), kidney disease, or cirrhosis of the liver. So it's important to determine the cause of your foot and ankle swelling.
“When you are on your feet a lot, gravity pulls blood into the veins of your legs, and some of the water in the blood enters the tissues of your legs and feet, causing them to swell. But there are also some conditions that can cause similar swelling because they affect the movement of fluids within the body.”.
Deep vein thrombosis, which is also known as DVT, happens when a blood clot forms in a vein - usually in the leg. These clots can block the return of blood from the legs to the heart, leading to swelling of the legs and feet. If not treated quickly, the blood clots can break loose and travel in the blood to the lungs, causing a dangerous pulmonary embolism. Clots can also travel to the heart, leading to heart attacks, and the brain, causing strokes.
