What Causes Edema In Left Leg, Pain In Back, Hip And Joints?

Posted on Sat, 31 May 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 31 May 2014 Answered on

Fri, 20 Jun 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I experienced edema (not pitting but hard) in my left leg only. Following some back and hip pain ( possibly caused by digging rocks out of my yard or working out to hard). Then had feelings of joint pain, not bad though. this started on Tuesday afternoon. In doing some reading today, last week I was taking ibuprofen, 4 a day for a week. I also take a daily baby aspirin and love wine. My reading today says that could be a cause of my edema. But I know a little about blood clots and Afib. Should I worry> I aced my leg today after noticing slight edema above my sock line.

Answered by Dr. Karl Logan (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Deep vein thrombosis

Detailed Answer:
hi,

thanks for your question. unilateral non putting oedema and pain in the calf in the abscence of an injury would always make a physician worry about the possibility of a deep vein thrombosis.

this can be diagnosed on an ultrasound of the veins in your leg.

the treatment would be blood thinners such as heparin and warfarin which would usually be taken for around 6 months.

I hope this answers yor question.

best wishes

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar