Gilmer Free Press

Ask the Doctor: Leg Must Get Prompt Attention

DEAR DR. DONOHUE:
My mother-in-law is 71 and does not like going to the doctor. For the past two years, her right leg swells up every day. She says that when she wakes up, she is fine and the leg doesn’t hurt. She refuses to see a doctor. My husband said, “I’m taking you,“ and she started crying. Is there anything you can say to encourage her to see a doctor?
- Anon.

ANSWER:
I can assure your mother-in-law that doctors aren’t such bad people. She might be surprised and actually like the one she sees. She has to find out the cause of her swelling and the appropriate treatment for it. Delaying treatment can lead to changes that are close to impossible to undo.

Our bodies are supplied with lymph vessels, tiny hoses that suction up tissue fluid and return it to the circulation. When something obstructs those lymph vessels, fluid remains in that part of the body. Most likely, this is what’s wrong with your mother’s leg. She has a lymph-vessel obstruction that causes her leg to swell. It goes down at night because the leg is elevated and gravity stops pulling fluid into the leg.

Or she could have trouble with the veins in her legs. Their valves might not be working well. In that case, blood stays in the leg veins and fluid oozes into the tissues.

If your mother-in-law is adamant about not consulting a doctor, she can do some things that will help her leg. She must elevate her leg as often as she can and for as long as she can during the day. By “elevation,“ I mean her leg has to be higher than her heart. She can attain that position only by lying down with her leg propped up on pillows. She should never cross her legs when she’s sitting. A swollen leg encourages infections, so she should never go barefoot or wear sandals. Compression hose (elastic hose), preferably fitted for her leg, squeeze fluid out of the leg and back into the circulation.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.