I am 32 yrs old and I too have swollen ankles/feet sometimes. My dr. gave me water pill (that i do not take often) even though my blood pressure if perfectly fine and I have no health issues either. My left foot swells more than my right foot and it doesn't seem to be related to any certain time of the day or month - it just swells whenever it feels like it.

Sorry I am no help to you other than letting you know you are not alone :-) I will check back often to see what kind of help others may be able to provide for you.

Could it be cellulitis? If so, it has to be treated with antibiotics. Google the word and then go to images to look at the pictures of it.

Wow those are some images! Luckily I don't think it's cellulitis as my foot looks normal, just a little...inflated? All of those pictures looked very red/irritated.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'd show a picture but I don't think people will want to look at my feet, haha.

I'm 33, and I get the same thing off and on. I do have an injury however, an old ankle sprain which has led to foot problems. That foot always get swollen before my period due to water retention. But, last summer I was wearing these shoes that had several straps across the top of my foot, and my feet (esp the left) was swollen all summer. I don't know if it was the weather, shoes, a combo? I could cut down on it with cutting down on sodium, etc., but could never get it to go away completely.

I have had a swollen right foot for many years, from the top of the foot up to and including the toes.

After visits to various doctors, including a podiatrist (total waste of time) and the test you had for a clot, I was finally diagnosed by a surgeon as having lymph edema.

I take a low-dose diuretic, which helps quite a bit. It enables me to wear shoes again!

My feet swell during the summer because of humidity. My chiropractor told me to take Vit C and B6, which are a natural diuretic when taken together. It sure helps.

My feet and ankles swell when my thyroid meds are off. I also have poor leg circulation, so that adds to the problem.

You have no other symptoms? If you have any low thyroid symptoms (fatigue, hair loss, dry skin, etc.) you can ask for a thyroid antibody panel.. sometimes the other thyroid tests are normal, but the antibodies can be off due to autoimmune hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's).

When I travel my ankles swell.
I've learned to elevate my feet, when sleeping, on a pillow.

Well, what concerns me is that it's only the one foot. The other is completely fine with no swelling at all. I'm surprised to see so many people with this problem - I had no idea it was so common.

Last night I played around with all the foot positions I have a tendency to use when I'm on the computer to see what would happen and today my pain is worse than it's been in a month so that tells me I likely keep aggravating the swelling. Maybe I injured it but I keep putting pressure on it so it hasn't been able to heal. As I mentioned, I tend to put most of my weight on my left side when sitting and standing and I even sleep on my left side most of the time. I'm not sure why. I'm going to try harder to sit with my feet firmly flat on the ground and see if it helps. :) Thanks for the advice!

Did your Dr. Xray it? It could be related to sitting alot, or pressure on your hip, or maybe just sitting slightly off balance etc. I have that, but mine is related to my fall last year and the arthritis they found. It is my left foot, and again, the Dr. is not worried, but I am concerned. I have that tight feeling also. I try to exercise my ankle and also use some bio freeze which did help a bit. You might have stepped off something wrong, twisted it slightly etc.--or like my kids tell me--you are getting older!!
Good luck if finding out.
Marie

Ask for x-rays. It could be a stress fracture, even. Also, at night, try sleeping with a pillow between your knees. I broke my left ankle 6 years ago when the pool ladder broke as I got out. It tore and strained the tendons and ligaments also. I have had problems with it swelling/staying swollen compared to the right, tho they have both always swelled up. The pillow seems to help when I get really bad. It helps re-align your hips to take pressure off of nervs and blood vessels. Hope you get answers and relief soon.

I suspect those long hours in a chair is the culprit. You may need a different chair, or get up every 1/2 hour and walk around a bit.

The legs will swell if your chair puts too much pressure on the underside of the leg near the outer lip of the seat. Use google and try to find a handbook on seated posture and recomendations.
r Here's a few things I've observed in my case.

Seat height. If the seat height is too tall, it will cut off circulation on the underside of the leg near the lit of the seat. The cure: Lower the seat height until you can rest your feet on the floor flat footed and no pressure near the underside of the knees. Change to a chair with a soft roll front seat.

A problem: After lowering the seat to a confortable height, you find your body is too low and the desktop too high in relation to your elbows. If you can lower the desk height, do that (however, this is not an option for most home desks).

There is another solution, but I hesitate to recommend it. Install a low platform to raise the chair in relation to the desktop. The problem is this platform needs to be large enough to keep the chair from rolling off of it during normal motions, and then you'll be tripping/stubbing your toes on it.

After finding the proper seat height, a custom desk height is the best solution.

If you find the swelling goes down in 1/2 to 1 hour after you lay down with your legs out straight, you can just about bet that return circulation had been impeeded. This can be from both veins and lymph system.

One help: Get up every 1/2 hour and walk up and down one flight of stairs.

I have a similar issue and it has been going on for 7 months--my doctor and podiatrist can not pinpoint a cause. I've had an X-ray, MRI, and bone scan, but thy haven't showed anything. I'm just wondering if you ever found a solution and if your foot is still swelling?

It's possible that it's DVT which is deep vein thrombosis and a dr. is not able to feel or see that, you need further tests. The ultrasound will show what's there, it's good you've been pushing for answers. My SIL had the same symptom for months and told it was nothing. Then a new dr. said it might be cellulitis even though not a sign of redness. Third dr. said "let's find out for sure". Not all doctors are thorough.

I did a double take when I saw this :) I never figured out why it got so swollen (never ended up having the ultrasound), but it is definitely better now. I still get a little puffiness if I sit too long or if I have had a lot of salt.

Since my doctor was worthless in terms of giving advice for it, I just tried to treat it naturally and take more breaks at work to walk around as well as avoiding excess salt. I tried some compression socks as well and that helped but they were a little uncomfortable so I didn't do that for long. I also elevated my feet at night by laying on the couch and putting them on the arm, on a pillow. Also drink lots of water to flush the body out. Gradually it reduced to almost nothing and I have not had any additional problems.

Good luck!

My left foot used to swell and feel tight, sometimes achy. I stopped eating anything made with wheat. My foot doesn't swell as long as I stay away from wheat products.

I also have a swollen foot but mine is the right foot. I've had it now for several years. When it first started I went to the foot doctor and had it xrayed and all they found was mild arthritis. Then later I even had and MRI which they told me was normal. It stays mildly swollen all the time but if I stand for long periods or take a long walk or do garden work it swells a little more. The only time it went back to normal was once when I had a bad case of poison ivy and took prednisone for a week. Then it was fine. It is a mild inflammation probably due to arthritis and apparently there is nothing I can do about it! Hope yours gets better..you are a lot younger than me..I am in my 60's. I also think if I lost weight it would help but that will probably not happen.
Joann

chi, I actually have the same thing going on. Weird! And cool to know I'm not alone. I too know it's not normal and that my salt intake is less than usual. But what I have found looking around, when it's one foot and one foot only, the possibilities are clot, gout, and ordinary edema. Not much else. I will tell you, when I had a sprained ankle, then tendonitis, and then a broken leg (all the same leg!!!), eesh, if I wore the insert that lifted my foot when it was no longer injured, made my ankle swell. that is, when it was a "normal" leg, it aggravated my ankle.

I admit it-I have been wearing some comfort insoles and I think it may be my culprit. I didn't think they were thick enough to matter? I took them out two days ago, and my ankle is less swollen. Could be simplier than clot or gout.

Edema if it's ordinary, just drink more coffee and water than usual and move more if you can. You don't have to take any pills if it's "ordinary" edema.

It could also be a form of arthritis. I have that, especially after my fall on ice 3 years ago. It damaged one of my vertebrae in my spine and again depends on weather, and what shoes I wear. If I sit too long, that is not good. I have asked the Dr. and he has checked some things out. But if I go to bed with swollen ankles, usually in the morning they are down to normal. No pain, just swelling. So it could be anything.

maybe gout? my 86 year old neighbor has gout. It's in his big toe, but the only difference is, his is very painful sometimes.

I have occasionally had a new pair of shoes that ended up bothering me in some way--I think it's important to rule this out. Sometimes the pain can be subtle, then increase over time. Our two feet are not the same; my right one is almost half a size larger than my left. Try not using your newest pair of shoes for a week or so to see whether it makes any difference. And I suppose the same goes for inserts.

What helped me a couple of years ago was not in planting my feet firmly against the floor....just the opposite...I RAISED them slightly...(I used a medical book, but I've even used a pillow when at a hotel desk.)

Any relief for you?

They're sending me to an orthopedist before they do any other testing even though I said it is not injured. Have you had yours x-rayed?

Wow - this is an old thread! Over a year old! Chi83, what's been happening with your foot since then?

bad feet is one reason we chose softer vinyl flooring over harder floor surface...no swelling but do notice i favor one foot over the other, often...and i'd try a cushy shoe while baking to see if that makes a difference...believe me you're far too young to have old ladies feet!

Have you been checked for diabetes? Swollen feet and swollen leg below the knee is common. Diabetes can affect all of the leg and foot below the knee, and over time, can cause nerve damage.

However, after reading about your case, you may have the same circulatory problem that affects long distance airplane travelers. It is caused by sitting in one position for lengthy periods. Travelers who fall asleep and rest unmovingly are vulnerable.

I had no idea swollen feet were so common! Luckily mine is completely fine now and hasn't swelled up in a while. It does temporarily if I eat a lot of salt or sit for too long without getting up. But I've been more careful with my diet and I'm trying to be more active so I don't really see the swelling anymore.

I didn't pursue any further testing as I figure if it were something more serious it certainly would have shown symptoms after a year.

Thanks so much for all of your continued suggestions! I hope all those who have the same problems can find solutions.

My right foot has been swollen for about five to six months. I haven't changed much some days it seems like its getting a little better but for the most part its swollen on the top of my foot and toes. I have no idea how I got it it just started one day. I went to Urgent Care and the physician there told me that it's nothing to worry about unless its both feet swollen. I asked them if they would do blood work he said there was no need for it. I had mentioned to him that I slightly rolled myankle walking out of my house but it didn't cause me any pain or anything like that. For the most part I walk around a lot at my job don't do much sitting unless I'm at home on my day off relaxing. There's no pain just some tightness from trying to stretch the toes because of the swelling.

I never saw this thread the first or second time around. I saw the doctor last summer with swelling in both feet and ankles, but more on the left. He diagnosed edema and I now use compression socks when exercising or spending a lot of time on my feet. Problem solved.