Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a serious medical condition that can be life-threatening, and requires immediate medical treatment. Following a DVT episode, you're at greater risk for a recurrence as well as further lifelong complications. One way to lower your risks and promote healthy blood vessels in your legs is to exercise regularly.
Identification
A DVT is a blood clot that forms deep inside a vein in your body, most frequently the lower leg and thigh, although no part of your body is immune. Since they reduce or cut off blood supply in the affected vein, blood clots are dangerous on their own. But if a piece of the clot breaks off and travels to another part of your body, it can cause potentially fatal complications, such as pulmonary embolism in your lungs, a heart attack or a stroke. After a DVT is treated, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute notes that about 20 to 50 percent of patients develop post-thrombotic syndrome within one to two years, a condition characterized by chronic swelling, pain, heaviness, discoloration or ulcers.
Exercise Benefits
Sitting or reclining for long periods of time, as well as a general lack of exercise, are factors that contribute to clot formation in leg veins. According to the Investigators Against ThromboEmbolism website, doctors used to prescribe bed rest for people recovering from a DVT, but now doctors want patients to start being mobile and exercise as soon as possible. Exercise can reduce pain and swelling, prevent persistent calf symptoms and reduce the risk of further DVT by improving circulation in the affected leg.
Expert Insight
A six-month trial study, published in January 2011 in the "Canadian Medical Association Journal," found that patients who exercised regularly following DVT had greater increases in their leg strength, leg flexibility and overall fitness than a non-exercising control group. The exercise group showed improvement in various venous disease-specific quality of life issues, and in the severity of post-thrombotic signs and symptoms.
Recommendations
In the 2011 Canadian study above, subjects were encouraged to remain mobile for at least four hours a day and move around as much as possible, walking between 650 yards and 7.5 miles daily. The study wasn't able to advise on the safety of more vigorous exercise following DVT, due to the lack of clinical trials. A review of studies up to 2004 on the relationship between post-DVT and exercise, published in the journal "Physical Therapy" in that year, found that for best results, patients should begin mobility and exercise within the first 24 hours after beginning DVT treatment.
References
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: Deep Vein Thrombosis
- Vascular Disease Foundation; DVT: FAQ's
- Investigators Against ThromboEmbolism; Mobility and Exercise after Deep-vein Thrombosis
- "Physical Therapy"; When Can the Patient With Deep Venous Thrombosis Begin to Ambulate?; Dana Aldrich and Daniel P Hunt; March 2004
- "Canadian Medical Association Journal"; Six-month Exercise Training Program to Treat Post-Thrombotic Syndrome; Susan R. Kahn, M.D., et al.; January 2011
