Sitting for long periods of time — whether you’re traveling in a car or airplane or simply focused on a hobby project — can cause stiffness and that odd feeling of numbness when your legs and joints fall asleep.
But prolonged periods of inactivity can also increase your risk for a more serious problem: Blood clots. Blood clots can form in our veins, particularly in the legs, causing a condition called deep vein thrombosis.
“It’s an important topic, because it can be fatal,” said Dr. Sostanie Enoru, an interventional cardiologist at MU Health Care in Jefferson City.
“The problem is that when these clots form, they can migrate to the heart or the lungs, causing conditions like a pulmonary embolism or sudden cardiac arrest.”
The clots can also stay in the legs, causing pain, swelling, and other uncomfortable symptoms that affect your daily life and activities.
Swelling, redness and pain in the legs are all symptoms of a deep vein thrombosis.
Blood clots are more likely to develop after long periods of travel, medical treatment including surgery, hospitalization, and in people with cancer, as well as smokers.
“There are also people with a family history of blood clots, so some of us have an increased genetic risk for blood clots,” Dr. Enoru said. “I encourage people to not wait to see if that swelling is going to go down by itself.”
Knowing the signs of a clot and bringing the condition to a medical professional before it migrates can save your life.
“At MU Health Care, we have advanced treatment options that go beyond blood thinners,” Dr. Enoru said.
“We offer catheter-directed therapies, clearing the clot with just a small cut by either sucking it out or delivering medication that rapidly breaks it up. That restores blood flow to the vein, gets patients back to their lives, and prevents more serious health problems in the future.”