Moving and using the muscles in your legs may reduce the swelling caused by leg edema. Talk to your doctor to learn more.
by Bridget O’Gara for Yavapai Regional Medical Center
Your socks may be doing more than keeping you comfortable when you’re active, they could be signaling you have a health problem.
“If you pull your socks off at the end of the day and see depression lines on your legs, that’s an indication of edema,” said Anil Kumar, MD, FACC, ABVLM, RPVI, RPhS, FSVM, Medical Director of the Vein Center at Yavapai Regional Medical Center.
Finding and treating the underlying causes of edema — a buildup of fluid anywhere in the body — are major goals of the Edema Clinic, which takes place every Wednesday at the Vein Center in Prescott Valley.
“Our clinic takes a comprehensive approach to caring for people with edema,” Dr. Kumar says. “It’s a serious condition that’s often overlooked and definitely underestimated.”
There are different kinds of edema, including generalized and localized edema. All Edema Clinic patients undergo extensive evaluation, compression therapy and patient education. After evaluation, Dr. Kumar develops individual patient treatment plans that may include ablation therapies or lymphedema therapy.
To ensure clinic patients receive the full spectrum of lymphedema therapies, Dr. Kumar is collaborating with Donna Hannah, OTR/L CLT-LANA, a certified Lymphedema Therapist. Lymphedema therapies include: complete decongestive therapy, manual lymphatic drainage, lymphedema pump, exercises, skin care and more. Dr. Kumar — who is board certified in numerous edema-related specialties including vascular medicine, cardiology and venous and lymphatic medicine — oversees patient care.
“Because of the common alliance of venous insufficiency with the lymphatic system,” says Dr. Kumar, “the American College of Phlebology recently changed its name to the American Vein & Lymphatic Society.”
Want to learn more about the Edema Clinic? Talk to your physician or call the Vein Center at YRMC at 928-759-5890. Visit YRMC.org for more information about the Vein Center.
Photo: Yavapai Regional Medical Center