Swelling

Joint Swelling. There are three main reasons why a joint may become swollen:

• Trauma to the joint either by direct impact, or a sudden unpredictable movement, that makes the joint move outside its normally capabilities. When trauma occurs white blood cells at the site of the damage release many chemicals as part of an ‘inflammatory response’. Blood vessels become dilated and a watery fluid is created in the tissues. This is the observed swelling and will resolve as the joint settles down and heals.
• Haematoma (bruise) – we are all familiar with bruising. A simple trauma damages the small blood vessels under the skin and the blood escaping causes the colourful swelling. The colour changes, through black, to blue to yellew occur as the blood is broken down. If blood vessels in the deeper tissues, or a muscle are damaged then a large bruise can form, known as a haematoma. This can make the muscle swollen, hard and painful until it heals. If blood vessels are damaged in a joint, the joint swells and this is called a haemarthrosis.
• Infection – if the skin over a joint is damaged, bugs can penetrate the soft tissues and invade the joint. This causes a slightly different sort of white cell reaction to fight the germs and the thick liquid resulting is called pus. Infection can also be ‘blood borne’, where the bugs enter the body at some other place, perhaps breathed in by the lungs. They enter the bloodstream and can ‘jump off’ at any point. If they enter a joint then a specific swelling of the infected variety may result.

Swollen ankles.

• As we get a little older the veins in our legs get a little weaker and baggy. The blood does not return to the heart as effectively as it ought to and watery fluid leaks out of the veins into the soft tissues causing swelling.
• If the RIGHT sided of the heart is not pumping as well as it used to, the back pressure in the veins causes again causes the water to leak out from the blood vessels into the soft tissues causing swelling.