swollen ankles
NYHeel
member
Anyone else dealing with this? I've never had petite ankles (I always say if I could change ONE thing about my body, it would be to have tiny ankles). So of course now that I'm pregnant they're only getting worse. This weekend I was at a bruncheon with family friends, and one of the older women said to me, "your ankles are SO swollen." I love her and know she said it out of concern, but my ankles are just such a big insecurity of mine that it stings to hear!
Doctors always say the same things: elevate your feet during the work day (I can't - not enough space under my desk), ice them, etc. They all are just temporary fixes. Ugh, just frustrated, and really dreading August when I know they'll only swell even more. I hate wearing anything that shows my ankles!
Thanks for reading my vent!
Re: swollen ankles
PS: meant to add - if anyone else does have this, do you have any tips on how to manage? Any tricks you've found that work well?
Thanks!
I have the same problem, I can usually see my ankle bones very well! One thing is to drink A LOT of water, and making sure you're not taking in too much salt. Elevating your feet is great if you can during the day, but the real trick is to have them elevated on pillows while laying on your side (since being on your side helps move fluid past the heavy uterus). I usually do this and after a couple days the swelling goes down drastically!
Hope this helps!
Strangely, my ankles tend not to get all that swollen, but my legs (over my shins) get really bad pitting edema. I wear compression knee highs at work, since I work 12hr shifts on my feet and only have a 20 minute period a day that I can put my feet up. They work ok, don't prevent it, but probably keep it from getting worse.
On a similar note, my hands have been SO swollen with it being warm outside. Any time I walk around, they swell up within an hour or so. Fun stuff.
Oh man, standing for 12 hrs sounds brutal. Sorry to hear you're getting edema in your shin area. It's smart of you to wear compression stockings. I try to wear them when I'm wearing pants. My sister wore them during her pregnancy to also combat vericose veins and said they helped.
I totally hear you with the hand swelling! Starting to get diffiult to take my rings off at the end of the day. But then again, this always happens to me when it gets warm - pregnant or not. Gooood times.