Blood clots are not a serious medical condition as they are not life-threatening. But if you don’t treat them they can cause deep vein thrombosis (DVT) which can spread in the lungs and can cause pulmonary embolism (PE). To protect yourself you need to know the symptoms of clotting. These symptoms appear due to some factors as:
- The part of the body where the affected blood vessel is located
- Whether the blood vessel is partially or totally blocked by the blood clot
Signs of DVT
If the blood clot is located in the leg, it can cause discomfort and pain. A lot of people cannot notice that they have blood clot because the symptoms cannot be noticed. But some of the signs are:
Signs You Have a Blood Clot You Just Ignore
- Redness
- Firm Swelling
- Tenderness or pain
- Dull tightness, usually accompanied by pain in the calf when walking
- Widening or dilation of the leg’s surface veins
- Increased warmth in the affected area
If you suffer from pain in the leg especially when you stand and the pain usually appears in one leg, then you should consult your doctor to check for DVT.
Signs of PE
PE occurs when the blood clot breaks off and starts to travel throughout the blood stream towards the lungs. Then it usually blocks the blood vessel which causes pulmonary embolism. Here are the signs of PE:
- Rapid heart rate
- Chest pain that usually happens all of a sudden and gets worse with every deep breath you make
- Mysterious cough that sometimes have bloody mucus
- Feeling faint
- Sweating at night
- Sudden shortness of breath
- Anxiety and/or apprehension
- Fatigue
Some people, just like those with DVT, don’t have any symptoms of PE.
Are You At Risk?
- Obesity
- smoking
- Immobility, such as prolonged inactivity (e.g. sitting in a car for several hours during a trip)
- oral contraceptives
- certain surgeries
- certain cancers
- trauma
- chronic inflammatory diseases
- age (60 and above)
- history in the family with blood clots
You can easily prevent blood clotting as it is not a serious condition. You can start with making simple life changes in order to control the risk factors mentioned above. So if you are overweight you may want to try losing those extra pounds.
Source: http://www.stethnews.com
