An injury such as a broken leg or a pulled leg muscle.

A blood clot blocking blood flow in a large leg vein - also called a DVT, or deep vein thrombosis.

If you have leg swelling that occurs over a shorter period of time (less than 72 hours), it may be due to one or more of the following causes: Legs affected: Whether one or both legs are affected. Timeframe: If the swelling is sudden (less than 72 hours) or chronic (onset over weeks to months). Causes of leg swelling can be broken up into groups depending on the following: This isn’t the only cause of leg swelling, though.įinding out what triggered your fluid shift is key to fixing your leg swelling. That’s why you may notice that the ankle you broke years ago is always a little swollen. Since your blood vessels are always working to pump blood to your heart, damage to these vessels may cause them to never quite return blood to circulation as well as before.

But if the lymphatics can’t keep up with the shift - especially if a fluid shift is large or sudden - your legs may swell.įor example, let’s say your blood vessels and lymphatic vessels get damaged. Your lymphatic system, which transports immune cells to your blood, is also responsible for cleaning up these leaks.

Let’s first discuss the science behind any type of puffiness in the leg.įluids shift from inside your blood vessels to the surrounding body tissues to a small degree all the time. View more medications What causes leg swelling?

Swelling in legs home remedies