Medical Questions » Legs Questions » Question No. 565
| Question: | My ankles keep swelling, and get worse as the day goes on. What can I do about it? |
| Answer: | The simple (but often not practical) answer is ' sit down and put your feet up' !
There are many reasons for swollen feet that get worse as the day goes on. The most common causes are advancing age with dilated veins in the legs, prolonged standing in one position (eg. hairdresser, shop assistant), a slowly weakening heart, hormonal changes before periods and with menopause, and failure of the kidneys.
There are many other rarer (and more serious) causes too, so the first step is to exclude any of these nasties by having the appropriate tests arranged by your general practitioner.
If a specific cause is found, that will be treated, but most people with this problem have swollen feet because of their age, hormones or occupation. In these situations, a fluid tablet can be prescribed that is taken when necessary to remove the excess fluid from the legs.
If you can, keep your feet elevated when sitting and wear support stockings that exert some pressure on the slack veins in the leg.
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