Week 1: Walk for five minutes at a comfortable pace, three to four times per day. Week 2: Walk for 10 minutes, three times per day. Week 3: Walk for 15 minutes two times per day. Week 4: Walk for 30 minutes, once daily.
Your goal is to walk for 30 to 45 minutes, 5 to 7 days per week. A resource for patients developed by the North American Thrombosis Forum. were prescribed medication to treat your DVT, such as an anticoagulant, please be sure to take your medication as directed. There are many reasons why someone might develop a DVT.
Conclusions: Early walking exercise is safe in patients with acute DVT and may help to reduce acute symptoms. Exercise training does not increase leg symptoms acutely in patients with a previous DVT and may help to prevent or improve the postthrombotic syndrome.
The authors concluded that walking exercise was safe in acute deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and may improve acute symptoms. Exercise training did not acutely increase leg symptoms of previous DVT and may prevent or improve post-thrombotic syndrome.
You may notice the pain is worse when you are walking or standing for periods of time. People sometimes mistake the pain for a pulled muscle or another muscle injury. But pain from a DVT blood clot will tend to get worse and not better with time or rest. Pain is another warning sign of a DVT blood clot.
Don't: Sit Too Long. Try not to stay seated for more than 2 hours at a time -- get up and walk around regularly. If you had a DVT in one of your legs, don't cross your legs when you sit down. That position can affect your circulation.
Women who are pregnant or taking birth control, elderly people, and people who smoke are at especially high risk, says Dr. Tonnessen. “Not exercising or moving around on occasion can lead to a more extensive blood clot.”
For years, if you had a DVT, your doctor would order bed rest. This was thought to lower the risk of a clot traveling through your bloodstream to your lungs. But recent research suggests that bed rest doesn't help people with DVT and that it may be fine for you to get up and move around.
DON'T stand or sit in one spot for a long time. DON'T wear clothing that restricts blood flow in your legs. DON'T smoke. DON'T participate in contact sports when taking blood thinners because you're at risk of bleeding from trauma.
Practically speaking, this would mean that the patient may begin walking within the first 24 hours after he or she has begun medical treatment for DVT. There have been a number of published studies utilizing LMWH in management of DVT.
Living with DVT
It takes about 3 to 6 months for a blood clot to go away. During this time, there are things you can do to relieve symptoms. Elevate your leg to reduce swelling. Talk to your doctor about using compression stockings.
Signs that you may have a blood clot
leg pain or discomfort that may feel like a pulled muscle, tightness, cramping or soreness. swelling in the affected leg. redness or discoloration of the sore spot. the affected area feeling warm to the touch.
The recommended duration is 6 weeks for a clot below the knee and 3 months if your clot is in the veins at the level of the knee or higher. For clots located at the knee or above, long term treatment beyond 3 months is sometimes advised to reduce the chance of future DVT or PE.
Set a goal to walk for 30 to 45 minutes, five to seven days per week. The NATF says that strength training is also important part, and it is safe to return to your regular routine if you already do strength training.
For most people, walking or taking care of some housework are fine right after you find out you have DVT. It's also OK right after a pulmonary embolism. Your doctor may prescribe a blood thinner -- they may call it an anticoagulant -- and compression stockings. Those help blood flow in your legs.
Chest pain or discomfort that gets worse when you breathe deeply or cough. Coughing up blood. Feeling lightheaded or faint. Feeling anxious or sweating.
With a blood clot, your leg may also feel warm as the clot worsens. You may even notice a slight reddish or bluish hue to your skin. This may appear darker brown or discolored on darker skin. You shouldn't worry about a clot if the leg pain is made worse with exercise but relieved by rest.
Sitting or lying down for long periods—due to prolonged bed rest after illness or a long airplane flight, for example—can cause blood to pool in the legs, leading to deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and, worst-case scenario, pulmonary embolism if the clot travels to the lungs.
Just getting up and moving more is a simple, effective way to reduce your risk of dangerous blood clots. In one research study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, participants who sat less than 30 minutes at a time were less likely to die than those who didn't take frequent breaks.
Wear loose-fitting clothes, socks, or stockings. Raise your legs 6 inches above your heart from time to time. Wear special stockings (called compression stockings) if your doctor prescribes them. Do exercises your doctor gives you.
As the blood clot worsens, the skin around it often becomes red or discolored and feels warm to the touch. Even if your DVT symptoms seem mild and you're unsure if you have a clot, you should call your doctor, especially if you are at increased risk of DVT.
The primary treatment for DVT and PE is anticoagulation with blood thinners. These medications increase the time it takes for blood to clot. They prevent new clots from forming and existing clots from growing larger. Anticoagulants do not dissolve a clot.
Don't recommend bed rest following diagnosis of acute DVT after the initiation of anti-coagulation therapy, unless significant medical concerns are present.