- All right, we're gonna talk about ankle pain and swelling.
As we know many, many of our viewers,
according to our views,
have pain and swelling in their ankles.
- Right. - We're gonna go through
the most, seven common causes for this swelling and pain,
and give you self-treatment options.
And this is from experience.
We've been there. - We've done.
- We've done it for years, - Right.
- years and years. - We've been there.
- So very good.
8.9, 9.3 seconds, something like that, we'll be back.
♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous physical therapists ♪
♪ On the internet ♪
- Okay, the first cause of ankle pain and swelling
is simply trauma.
In other words, you sprained your ankle,
you dropped something on your foot,
something of that nature - We still do that.
- Yeah, it's very ominous. - Sprained ankle.
- So you have swelling from that.
You can just get some ACE wrap.
- Right.
- Any typical ACE wrap, and you're gonna wrap the ankle.
We do have videos on how to do this specifically.
- Correctly. - Tighter down here,
looser up here, and then you're gonna elevate it
as I'm doing here with some pillows, lying down.
- And the Bob and Brad ice pack.
- There you go.
Yeah, you can either buy one like that.
You can actually, - Nice and pliable.
- make some really nice ice packs.
We have videos on how to make your own at home.
- Right.
- And you're gonna lie here for 15 to 20 minutes.
Let the gravity pull the fluid down,
the compression, the cold pack.
And then of course don't walk on it so much.
- Right.
- Do things that do not irritate it.
All right, we're going to number two.
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Another common cause of swelling and pain
in the feet and ankles are arthritis.
- Right, good old art.
- That's right.
You have to remember there's 26 bones
in each foot and ankle and 33 joints.
And in those joints, they articulate
and rub up against each other when you walk.
And if they're arthritic that can create pain
as the day goes on.
- Right.
- So you get some inflammation, the swelling.
So be careful. - Lots of fun stuff.
- Yeah, and if you don't have proper footwear
you want to look at that just,
you're not gonna be on your feet as long as you should.
You know, maybe you're just too much.
- Quite often wider footwear.
- Yeah, wider, more support. - Right.
- Now if you do give this, you know,
and this is something x-rays will show at a doctor's office,
they're gonna give, you know, NSAIDs, ibuprofen, Tylenol.
You may get a prescription from your doctor
depending on how serious it is.
Also, you can, you know, wrap as well at the end of the day.
- And you might use a cane for a while.
- Yeah, use a cane, - Temporary.
- Something so that you take the weight bearing off
of those joints. - Right, calm down.
- Exactly right.
You know, and this is one place where I think you could use
if you don't wanna use the wrap because it takes a while
to put these on and it's gonna be a long term thing.
You're gonna have arthritis in your foot and ankle
for quite a while, more than likely.
But these, this is tuba grip and it's nice.
- It's like a sleeve.
- It's sleeve and it goes on very nicely
and it's not too tight.
Some people think if you wanna wrap it
you should wrap it tight, tight, not the case.
And there you go.
- Yeah, you can get a whole roll of it.
- Yep. - And cut it off.
- Yep, you buy it by the roll.
It's relatively cheap by the roll, anyways.
- Right. - It's just another option.
- Right. - All right,
going to number three. (image whooshing)
Okay, now with lymphedema is the next topic
of our source of swelling in your ankles.
Now lymphedema, lymph is fluid in your body.
As the blood flows down, feeds your muscles,
all your tissues.
There's actually some fluid.
And it's called lymph that gets out of the blood system
and into the inner cellular area.
And that's normal and that's called lymph.
And the body will channel that lymph up
just underneath the skin.
And it goes all the way up into the lymph nodes.
- If it's working right. - Right.
If it's working right, the lymph node
filter out the bad stuff and your body recycles it.
- Recycles, right. - Yep.
So what happens is the, there can be,
- Blockages.
- Blockages, exactly, Bob.
And that causes the fluid, the lymph, it's not blood.
- It's rolled up. - Yep.
And boy, we've seen some
- Huge legs. - Very, very swollen ankles,
very painful, to the point where
they actually start to weep. - Right.
- There's so much fluid in there,
- The skin breaks open.
- and you know, if you're at that point
you need to see a doctor. - Right.
- You're not just gonna do what we're gonna do here.
- Yeah.
- I mean the treatment here you'll do
but you want more than that, if it's that bad.
So with lymphedema, it's really critical.
You're not going to buy ACE wrap.
- Right. - Typical ACE wrap.
- You have to buy something called complan.
I would definitely have a professional
show you how to wrap because it is a specific,
- Less stretch. - Yeah.
Too much compression is very critical
that you do not have that.
- Right, avoid that.
- Yep, it becomes a blockage in itself and makes it worse.
We oftentimes will use what we talked about
is the tuba grip. - Right.
- It's not very compressive.
It's relatively cheap.
Easy to put on.
We do have some information on that for more details.
So lymphedema again, you need to see your doctor.
It's gonna probably be in both legs almost always.
And get it treated.
There may be some medications to help it out.
Elevation.
- You might get fit with the stockings.
- Right, yep, some compression stockings.
All the stuff gets much more detailed.
- Right.
- Professional help is the best way to go.
- Absolutely.
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- Okay, another cause of that swelling
is congestive heart failure, CHF, commonly called.
And it's a result of your heart not being efficient.
It's not pumping the blood out
and bringing it back throughout the whole system.
- Right.
- I'm not gonna get into the details, but once again
a doctor will, they will find this and get you diagnosed.
And there's some treatment
that you're gonna need for your heart.
There's also lifestyle changes that are likely
gonna be prescribed in regards to,
- Exercise. - diet, exercise.
And those are big.
Those are important.
So you do not need as many medications
which most people like to avoid.
- Right.
- Also with CHF, you know,
simple things like elevating your legs,
getting the gravity work for you, as opposed to against you.
Again, if you're gonna use wraps with this
I would get professional help.
Have it instructed to make sure you did it properly
and go from there.
- If you can even do it.
- Right, right, yeah, because sometimes,
- It can overload the heart.
- Right, you get too much fluid up to the heart.
And that's, my father had that actually.
- Really?
- But his from was from diet.
Too much salt.
- Salt, yeah.
- They got a helicopter ride
for $22,000 to the hospital though.
- Oh fun.
- (laughs) And it's true.
So again, CHF is something you need to get
- Don't mess around with it.
- consult from your doctor. - Right.
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- Another common reason for this is pregnancy.
Now, Bob, you and I are not real,
- Not a problem with us.
- Yeah, we are not experts.
And we're not gonna talk too much about it
but you know, the water and the fluid ends up
- Very calm.
- Yep, getting trapped in the legs.
It's not unusual.
Your doctor will guide you through the proper steps.
Don't listen to Bob and Brad on this one.
Just go to the doctor. - Right, forget us.
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- Okay, now this next one is pretty serious Bob.
- Right. - Or can be.
It's called a deep vein thrombosis.
In other words, a blood clot.
The unique thing about a blood clot in swelling
it is almost only happens in one side or one leg.
- Right.
- Bob you wanna talk about it. - You get it in the calf.
- Yep.
- And you could tell if you have it
by bringing the foot up and squeezing the calf.
- Right.
- Now, I wanna say, I know there's studies that say
this test is not very
- Really? - reliable.
Right, so you can do it and it might test positive.
You go to the doctor, if you're lucky, he'll say
that was a false test.
- Right. - But still you gotta go in.
- Right. - One way or another.
You don't wanna mess around with swelling
especially if there's no apparent reason for you.
You've never had it.
- Right.
- There's pain associated, maybe some,
- Only one leg. - Yep.
Redness, some warmth. - Right.
- DVTs, they're easy to treat if caught in time.
So, and also if you have that,
you probably wanna avoid exercising.
Your doctor will let you know sometimes,
- And massage.
- Yeah, avoid exercise and massage until you get medicated.
And there's a certain point where they'll say
now you can get moving.
- Right.
- When it's cleared, cause you don't want,
the biggest problem is you can have a,
you can throw a clot, that'll end up
- Up in your lungs - In your lungs.
It can be life threatening.
So it's a big, big thing.
So be careful with that one.
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And number seven is kidney failure,
if you're in early stages or late stages of kidney failure
they may result in swelling in the ankles.
Typically both sides.
- You don't probably know if you are.
- Yeah, yeah.
And this is one of those things that again
you need to see a doctor
you need to be treated appropriately
get guidance in regards to exercise.
And there will be some guidelines
for diet and lifestyle to help this as well.
- Now, Brad, we should mention too
that you can get swelling in your legs as you get older
just from standing, standing a long time or
- Yep. - sitting a long time.
- You may go in and they'll say, well, it's not a big deal.
You don't need any specific treatment.
- Right. - Just changes in, you know,
some of the things we talked about,
elevation, - ankle pumps,
- exercises, ankle pumps, - walking.
- Yep, and then the compressive garments,
which are becoming very popular, you can buy 'em
the socks that come up to here.
- Right.
- They're tighter down here than they are up here
to push the fluid up.
And that's, you know, a nice situation that,
so all these things we're talking about,
some of the bad things, but there's a lot of times
where it's not. - It's minor.
- Yep, yep.
So there are other causes for ankle swelling.
These are probably the most popular that we've worked with.
- Most counts.
- Yeah, most popular.
(both laughing)
what the hell's wrong with me?
(Bob laughing)
All right, get your most popular ankles folks.
- Thanks for watching. - Good luck.
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