- Ankle swelling, Bob.
Now there's a lot of reasons for ankle swelling.
We're talking about it could be a severe ankle sprain
where that ankle swells up
like a watermelon. - Right.
- Or a lot of times you just have that edema
and the ankles will swell up
from that fluid that just builds up.
These exercises and positions
are gonna help both situations.
So hold on 9.4 seconds. (Bob laughs)
♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous physical therapists ♪
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- Okay, Bob, before we get into
some of these conservative treatments
that anybody can do.
You know, if you do have a swollen ankle,
from say a bad ankle sprain,
you may wanna use some ibuprofen or an NSAID.
As long as- - And some ice.
- And some ice, exactly.
As long as that doesn't interfere
with other medications. - Right.
- So check with your doctor, the nurse or the pharmacist.
Now, there are medications for edema people.
People who have chronic swelling from edema.
- Right
- And they're called diuretics
or water pills. - Yep.
- Now, the thing about those,
there are always side effects
that the doctors are always aware of.
But that can affect your kidneys and what not.
Now, what we're gonna show you,
there are no side effects.
- Right. - Just-
- Anybody can do these.
- Exactly right.
So that's what we're gonna show cuz that's what we do,
conservative treatment.
Number one,
simply lie down on your bed or on the floor
and get some pillows.
Now I have two pillows under there.
You can see it elevates his ankles and feet up.
We want it above the heart level.
Actually, I wouldn't mind going a little higher.
- A little higher, right.
- One or two more pillows might be beneficial.
The other thing that works better...
Whoa, I'm gonna walk in front of the camera in here.
In front of Bob, sorry Bob.
(Bob laughs)
You get one of these leg wedges.
You don't need to get 'em,
pillows will work just fine.
This does work better.
It feels better. - This feels great.
- Now, when you're in this position,
whether it's the pillows or a wedge,
you need to do-
- Ankle pumps.
- Yeah ankle pumps, exercises.
So look at that, Bob is pumpin' away.
So what happens is the muscles
and the feet and the ankles contract.
And that's the way the blood and the edema
can get pumped back up with gravity,
down into the system. - Right.
- There's one thing, particularly if this is lymphedema,
that you want to do before the exercises.
And this is the exercise.
We did this with Aaron, remember?
That massage. - Right.
- You start on your thighs and you pull down.
Yep, so go up as far as you can, Bob.
And hands into the inside, this way a little bit,
and pull down.
And what that does is that opens up the lymph channels.
So that otherwise there's like a dam there
and the fluid will not-
- You don't have to push it hard.
- No, you don't.
As a matter of fact,
you don't wanna push hard. - You push lightly.
- Yep, and do about 10 to 20 of those.
And then do 10 to 20 ankle pumps.
And also, we can do what I call short arc quads.
Yep.
And just up and down.
Think about strengthen that.
You're getting some gravity.
You're getting the quad muscles working with this.
You've already done the ankle muscles.
It's a complete system.
- It really works well with the wedge.
- Yeah, yep it's wonderful.
Okay, we're gonna go to number two.
All right, in the seated position.
The big thing you have going against you
is you're seated and gravity will pull fluid downwards.
- The knees are bent.
- Yeah, exactly.
If you don't have a stool,
what you're gonna do to help combat that gravity flow
and that fluid, is you can bring your legs out like this.
And again...
- Ankle pumps. - Ankle pumps.
10 to 20 of those, work 'em good.
And do 'em at least every 20 to 30 minutes.
- It's like when you're on an airplane.
- Yeah, get the ankle pumps, get the circulation,
And then these kicks are long arc quads.
And it gets things.
And don't do 'em like this.
Do 'em meaningfully and hold.
Down.
And see how Bob and I are synchronized
like swimmers or dancers.
- [Bob] There you go.
- Yeah, you gotta be careful for your neighbor.
That's a nice thing.
But if you happen to have a stool, an ottoman,
something you can put in front of you that's cushioned.
If you're in a recliner, pull a foot rest up.
- Right.
- Actually with my mother,
who does have swollen feet with a recliner,
and she prefers a pillow underneath the recliner.
Makes it more comfortable and elevates a little bit more.
And there you go.
- And you can do ankle pumps.
- Yep, read your book, watch TV, whatever it takes.
But, like Bob said, you need to do your ankle pumps.
- Right.
- About 20 of 'em every half hour or even more often.
And you still can do the quad.
And actually here, you can do some of the massage.
- Right. - As well.
- Add that in.
- Yup, get all the fluid going this direction
up into the system,
so your body can take care of it the way it needs to.
- Process.
- All right, let's go to number three, Bob.
This is a fun one.
This is the big one. - Yeah.
- Everyone would appreciate this, if it's available.
Now, number three, this option is by far the easiest,
it feels the best, but it's not available to everyone.
But if you're thinking about getting a actual foot massager,
this is the one we promote.
And Bob uses this one every night, right?
- It's funny, it says Bob and Brad on it.
- (laughs) Well that's because it's a good one.
- Right.
So I love it.
It's got different modes.
It's got different intensities.
- Right.
- You can really work your feet.
- Now, the thing that makes this so good for the swelling,
is it not only massages your feet but it has
compression. - [Bob] Compression, right.
- And it helps push that fluid up.
And how long do you use this for, 20 minutes?
- It runs 15 minutes.
- And then it turns off.
- Right. - Yep.
- And I can do another 15 minutes.
- Yeah - Yeah.
- And you do this every night?
- Most nights, yeah.
- And it feels good. - Yeah
- And you're grateful. - It's a treat.
(Brad laughs)
- Yeah, they're not so bad in price actually.
But if it's something you're gonna use long term,
it may be something you wanna consider.
- Not for size 12 or more.
- Yeah, so if you got those-
- Mine are size 12, that's fine.
- If you're one of those six and a half,
seven foot tall people. - You're 13 or 14, forget it.
- Yeah, most people aren't.
We're pretty safe.
And the last thing that you can do for ankle swelling
is use a compressive garment or a compressive sock.
I just- - Compression sock, yeah.
- I just happen to have one on here.
I've got a regular sock, although it's got a skeleton.
They're my skeleton socks.
But these are regular material.
They do offer compression.
But if you get a actual compression sock,
the nice thing about 'em is
they're gonna compress a little more pressure
around the foot and the ankle and less here.
So it allows and promotes circulation,
bringing that fluid upwards.
- [Bob] They're gradiated.
- Yep.
- Gradiated, gradiated.
- And they'll tell you how many millimeters of mercury,
which is the compression. - Right.
- Usually like around 15 to 20 here, and then a five
or 10 more pressure millimeters of mercury
up here around calf. - [Bob] Up there, yeah.
- [Brad] So it moves forward.
These are iReliev compression garments.
We do like these,
they work well. - [Bob] Yeah.
- They actually have
bamboo in there. - [Bob] Right!
- [Brad] Which allows it to breathe more
and absorb the perspiration.
- [Bob] Help the sweat, right.
- Yep.
So they're a little more comfortable.
And you could see these will come all the way up
to the knee.
Some of 'em,
they do make 'em that come just above the ankle,
but you don't want those.
You want to have the ones that come up to here.
- [Bob] Right. - For this kind of swelling.
- [Bob] Push it all the way through.
- So very good.
That's what the things that we offer, we promote.
And they're gonna help you out with ankle swelling
from foot to toe.
No, toe to foot.
- Toe to foot. - Toe to knee.
- Toe to leg
- Whatever, yeah.
- We're confused. - It's been a long day.
- Right - So we gotta take a break.
Take care.
(brief tonal music)