What Causes Severe Oedema In Legs,ankles And Feet?

Posted on Mon, 14 Apr 2014

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

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 Answered on

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : i have severe edema in my legs, ankles, and feet. I am under the care of several drs. but have as yet no explanation for this. I have had a cardiac work up but all was normal. My left ankle and foot are now tingling. No fatigue, nausea, confusion. Is this a part of the edema?

Answered by Dr. Karl Logan (-4 hours later)

Brief Answer: Not usually caused by oedema Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for your question. Oedema can be caused by many things from heart trouble, to low protein in the blood, it can be inherited from your parents so called familial oedema, problems with lymphatic or venous drainage from the limbs can cause oedema - this could be a primary problem or these structures could be obstructed by something else. Your Dr's should keep looking until they have excluded all of these causes. Oedema does not usually cause numbness, tingling or weakness. This suggests a neurological problem such as nerve entrapment in your spine or in your limb or damage of the nerve itself that supplies that area of the skin, so called neuropathy. Your Dr should be able to map out the area of altered sensation ( a dermatome ) which can point to the particular nerve involved and then organize appropriate investigations to see what the problem is. Such investigations might include an MRI scan or nerve conduction studies. I hope this helps answer your question. Best wishes

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T