What Causes Swelling In The Feet And Ankles?

Posted on Wed, 15 Mar 2017

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

Wed, 15 Mar 2017 Answered on

Thu, 13 Apr 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : My feet and ankles swell and calves swell and get very hard. What could this mean.

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (37 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
heart failure, venous insufficiency and other causes

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

bilateral swelling in the feet and ankles can be caused by various causes. I'll mention some of the most common ones:
- heart failure
- venous insufficiency
- very low albumin (nephrotic syndrome, etc)
- serious hypothyroidism

Your doctor can distinguish between the aforementioned ones and other causes with clinical examination and some simple tests.

I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!

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