Blood clots are normal throughout your circulatory system. This is especially true in the veins of your lower extremities.
Clots in your legs usually resolve on their own, but on rare occasions, clots can lodge in a vein and cause a backup of venous blood. This can still resolve and go away, but sometimes it doesn’t.
This will cause swelling and pain, usually requiring a local emergency room visit. Doctors treat these clots with clot-busting drugs that break up the components of the clot. Clot formation is a complex process; some of us are more prone to clotting than others.
Those of us who are clot-prone are put on blood thinners that have side effects of their own (like excessive bleeding).
Clots can form anywhere, but all things being equal, they are more likely to form in veins than arteries, especially in the lower extremities.
Venous blood flow in the legs.
As I have explained elsewhere, arterial blood eventually flows through capillaries, dropping off nutrients and picking up waste. Two-thirds of the way through the capillary mesh, the arterial (red) blood starts turning into veinous (purple) blood.
The arterial blood is pumped through the capillary, but the capillary mesh acts as a baffle breaking down the pumping action of the arterial blood. Venous blood flows more smoothly than arterial blood and is pushed forward (by blood pressure) back toward the heart. This forward movement is insured by one-way valves in the veins that manage the direction of venous blood flow.
Skeletal muscle contractions also aid veinous blood flow. When muscles squeeze, the veinous blood in them moves forward toward the heart (the one-way valves in the veins prevent it from moving backward).
There is a sophisticated network of one-way valves in the veinous system. These valves only allow veinous blood to go back toward the heart, specifically to the right ventricle, which pumps the veinous blood into the lungs for re-processing.
Blood clots:
Idle blood tends to coagulate. You can see this happening when you cut yourself. This coagulation stops the bleeding from your cut and forms a “net” over the cut. This is a complex, necessary, and life-saving process.
Hemophiliacs who lack this coagulation ability are at risk of bleeding to death without appropriate medical treatment.
OK, so far?
A similar process can happen in your circulatory system when blood “pools” or stays still for long periods of time. This pooling can allow a clot to form. Now, to be clear, this is not the only way clots form. They can show up for many other reasons.
This post, however, is about pooling-induced clots and the damage they can cause.
The most likely place for blood to pool is in the veins of your lower legs.
Clots can form when you sit motionless for long periods – like on a long airplane flight or at a desk without getting up and moving around.
Things can happen with the clot. If it’s not blocking the vein, it can dissolve on its own when blood starts flowing again. This can happen often and will present no symptoms.
The clot can block blood flow through the vein, causing a backup of blood behind the clot. This can cause redness, swelling, and pain. This can sometimes be “walked off.” Beware that this situation is potentially dangerous and shouldn’t be ignored. If the problem persists, get to an emergency room.
Pulmonary Embolism:
The closer your veins get to your heart, the larger their diameter. This means that a large clot breaking loose in your leg can make it to your heart. Yes, it could dissolve along the way, but if it doesn’t, It will eventually enter your right ventricle.
Now you have a life-threatening problem.
Your right ventricle pumps veinous blood into your lungs. If the clot isn’t broken up somehow, it will be pumped into your lungs and block some or possibly most of the blood coming into your lungs. This condition is called a pulmonary embolism and is life-threatening.
33% of people with this condition die. It can also cause permanent damage to your lungs. This is the third cause of heart-related deaths behind heart attacks and strokes. It is very serious.
Please read this: Pulmonary Embolism symptoms.
The best way to avoid a pulmonary embolism is by staying active, Remember that muscles in your legs (and arms) assist in moving veinous blood. When this assistance is absent, blood pooling can become a factor.
If you are in a position where you must sit still for long periods, here is a three-step routine you can do while sitting to help flush old blood out of your veins by using your skeletal muscles.
(This routine is not medical advice. It is simply a simulated walking exercise that might prevent clots from forming in your legs and advancing to other areas causing severe damage. This routine will not harm you; you don’t need to buy anything or get anyone’s permission to do it.)
3-Step Sitting Vein Flush
- Quads – Quadriceps are the muscles in your front legs between your pelvis and knees.
- Calves – I intend these to mean the muscles on the back of your lower legs and the muscles on the front of your lower legs that activate when you put weight on your heels and raise your toes.
- Hams – These are the muscles on the back of your legs, and I include your butt muscles (Gluteals).
Instructions:
Quads:
Place your feet flat and firmly on the floor in a sitting position. Now try to push them forward by tightening your Quads and pushing down on your feet at the same time. Don’t move your feet. Do this three times for five seconds and rest three seconds in between.
Calfs:
Still sitting, Raise your feet on your toes and pretend you’re digging your toes in the sand – really dig hard. Hold this for five seconds, then raise your feet up on your heels and wiggle tour toes. Do this for five seconds. Do this two-step routine three times with a three-second rest in between.
Hams:
In setting position, fet flatly and firmly on the floor, and try to pull your feet towards you by tightening your hamstrings and butt muscles at the same time – keep pressure on your feet so they don’t move. Do this five times for three seconds each and a three-second rest in between.
You have now completed the 3-Step Sitting Vein Flush routine. If you remain sitting, do this routine every half hour. No guarantees here, but this won’t hurt you and has a good chance of replacing pooled blood with fresh blood.
You can do this routine anytime and anywhere you’re sitting. Do these steps in order because you’re actually making a loop with fresh blood through your lower body and washing out pools of stagnant blood.
OMY1
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