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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Treatment For Swelling In The Leg Of An Elderly Person

My 86-year-old mother has experienced swelling in her legs for a couple of years now, and it has progressively gotten much worse. It has now gone to her arms and is getting worse. It is now hot to the touch. She is miserable and says it hurts. We have an emergency appointment with her PCP tomorrow. I m worried sick about her. I m in California and she s in Texas. What could be the problem?
posted on Wed, 19 Jul 2017
Twitter Wed, 26 Jul 2017 Answered on
Twitter Thu, 27 Jul 2017 Last reviewed on
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General Surgeon,  's  Response
Hi and welcome to Healthcaremagic. I understand your concerns and I will try to help you as much as I can.
In most cases this is caused by infection or venous issues and less common heart dysfunction unless this is bilateral. . This may be a beginning of leg cellulitis which is inflammation of subcutaneous tissues and may develop into diabetic foot or even diabetic gangrene so any swelling, redness or pain in legs in someone who has diabetes should be evaluated by medical professionals since antibiotics may have to be started as soon as possible to prevent spreading of infection. He should do at least basic blood tests and blood sugar to see if there is significant infection or not. Other causes include deep vein thrombosis or lymph edema and these should be checked with an ultrasound exam.
I hope I have answered you query. If you have any further questions you can contact us in every time.
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Suggest Treatment For Swelling In The Leg Of An Elderly Person

Hi and welcome to Healthcaremagic. I understand your concerns and I will try to help you as much as I can. In most cases this is caused by infection or venous issues and less common heart dysfunction unless this is bilateral. . This may be a beginning of leg cellulitis which is inflammation of subcutaneous tissues and may develop into diabetic foot or even diabetic gangrene so any swelling, redness or pain in legs in someone who has diabetes should be evaluated by medical professionals since antibiotics may have to be started as soon as possible to prevent spreading of infection. He should do at least basic blood tests and blood sugar to see if there is significant infection or not. Other causes include deep vein thrombosis or lymph edema and these should be checked with an ultrasound exam. I hope I have answered you query. If you have any further questions you can contact us in every time.