Note: Doctors advice is the best and I am not a doctor. This is based on my experience with DVT and data collected from different sources.
Deep Vein Thrombosis(DVT)
DVT is clotting of blood inside a deep vein. Medically it is inflammation of vein with clot formation. It commonly
happens in the leg veins such as femoral vein, popliteal vein or deep pelvis veins. Although it can also happen
in the veins in the arms.
Symptoms
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Symptoms can be painful feeling in the legs, hardening of calf muscles for example, Leg muscles becoming warm(slightly higher temperature in the legs more than the body temperature) etc. For some who are unlucky there will not be any symptom like pain etc.
Complication
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If a clot gets dislodged and moves inside the Vein it is very dangerous. If the clot moves to the lungs its is called Pulmonary Embolism(PE). There are chances of that it can be fatal.
Main Causes(People at risk)
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- Decreased flow rate of blood - Especially people travelling long distances frequently
To be Avoided: Sitting in the same place for long time with legs down. If travelling long distances its advisable to
walk around once in a while. If possible legs can be kept in elevated position. Even people working in offices sitting in the same place for long time are at high risk. Moderate exercises like walking, mild jogging, cycling, swimming, yoga can help avoid this.
- Damage to blood vessel wall and increased tendency of blood to clot(this can happen due to genetic factors also -
thrombophilia)
- Medical conditions - After a Surgery especially knee surgery, hospitalization or immobilization, smoking, obesity,
woken during pregnancy time and postnatal period.
Doctors say that one of the effects of smoking is that the diameter of veins becomes smaller which is highly risky.
I had a knee surgery around 6 months ago(for menescus / ligament tear). After around a month I felt hardening of my calf muslces. It felt like my calf muscles were very hard like stone. I couldnt walk properly after that day. The leg was very hot(like very high fever). I tried pain killer creams but didnt help much. I tried to massage the muscles in an attempt to reduce the pain(Later doctor advised that massage should never be done if it is DVT). Then I consulted the physician who advised me to get a scan done(doppler). It confirmed that I had DVT. The radiologist showed me in the screen the blood flow pattern on both mylegs. My left leg blood flow was visible in the vein but my right leg had almost no blood flow.
I was admitted in hospital and treatment commenced and went on for 5 days. I was advised by the Cardio Vascular surgeon to take Acitrom and Deplatt(Aspirin combination tablets). It looks for me that I need to take this lifelong. It seems that once a person has faced DVT his blood gets the tendency to clot easily and chances of DVT to happen again are very high. He advised me to keep my leg at elevated position whenever its possible and not to follow a sedentary lifestyle.
Please be aware of this problem. If you face a similar symptom please consider a physician.