My mom has developed swollen legs, should I be worried?

Pardon the error, but I got the wrong side of the blood flow with PAD. Joyce mentioned DVT, which is what I had intended. Sometimes they are linked, but not always.

Legs that swell seriously need to be seen to right away. It could be, as mentioned, congestive heart failure (CGF) or peripheral artery disease (PAD). There are medications, such as Lasix (CGF) or blood thinners (PAD) that may help with these circulatory problems. If there is pitting edema, it a sign that something is wrong with the circulation. Pitting edema is simple to see. If you press your thumb gently into the swollen area, it leaves an imprint that takes a while to fill back in. Edema that is non-pitting will not leave an imprint when pressed.

My mom has moderate dementia and recently has swollen ankles. She has never had this problem before and is very healthy otherwise. Could the dementia be related to swollen ankles?

My Mom has a history of forming blot clots in her legs. When the "DVTs" form the legs swell up. So swelling could be very serious, even life threatening. As Lilli mentioned it could also be diet or a change in her enviornment or activity level. Not something to let slide. Have it checked asap. Good luck.

My mom also has persistant swelling (edema) in her legs, feet, and ankles. Compression stockings seem to help minimize the fluid build up. Hope everything goes well for your mom.

Swelling can occur for many reasons: change in diet, being less mobile, eating too much salt, or more serious things like heart/circulation issues. The fact that it came on suddenly means that something has changed since she entered the rehab. They may just need to elevate the bed under knees and/or ankles. Ask the doctor if she should wear compression socks. They even have compression machines the contract and expand the sock. Or she may need more phsysical exercise. Ask her doc and keep an eye on the swelling.

I called her regular doctor and got the nurse. She said that she will have Dr. check mom's record, that Heritage Rehab. where Mom is at has their own doctors/nurses, that her own doctor doesn't have anything to do with her while she's there. Nurse said Mom had no record of swollen legs when she looked at her record.