Deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot in a deep vein in the legs or the arms, which could potentially reach the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism.
Deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot in a deep vein primarily in the legs or also the arms. This is a larger vein that runs through the muscles, in the case of the legs the muscles of the calf and the thigh. It is potentially dangerous, as the clot can cause swelling and pain in the leg or the arm and may lead to complications such as pulmonary embolism when it travels from the leg’s or arm's deep vein into the right atrium of the heart and then into the lungs, where it becomes lodged in the increasingly smaller blood vessels.
Anyone can develop deep vein thrombosis but it becomes more common over the age of 40. The causes of deep vein thrombosis are many: being inactive for long periods such as during a long journey, after an operation or during a pregnancy, clotting disorders, varicose veins, being heavily overweight, estrogen (birth control pills), and smoking. In some cases, there may be no typical symptoms of deep vein thrombosis. If symptoms do occur, patients often notice a pain similar to that of sore muscles in the affected leg (usually your calf) or the arm, sensations of tension or weight, swelling, a warm sensation in the region of the clot and pain when pressed, and red skin. In the case of the leg the skin can be red particularly under the knee at the back of your leg. Deep vein thrombosis affects usually one leg, although not always. The pain may be worse when patients move the bodyweight from their foot upward towards their knee.
If symptoms present themselves after a long flight for example, a doctor or hospital should be sought out immediately. There you can be fitted with compression stockings to wear every day. These stockings will help prevent complications and improve your symptoms. The doctor may also prescribe blood thinners to prevent further clotting and to decrease the risk of a pulmonary embolism considerably. For those who travel long distances it’s recommended to stand up regularly and to move around or at least to do some calf exercises while sitting. Preventative therapy with short-term blood thinners is something that can be considered as well.
Several years of work in academia, medical practice and finally commercialization make it possible to provide an end-to-end process to help users to “find the appropriate medical help based on their present symptoms”. Below you will find a short explanation, showing you which part of the platform will help you best in finding the appropriate medical support.
Proceed as follows to enter your current symptoms.
Click on the appropriate body part on the picture. Select one/multiple symptoms corresponding to your complaint.
You can also add symptoms by typing your medical complaint in the search box and selecting the best matching suggestion.
Note: Your information will be kept anonymously.
Once you have selected all applicable symptoms, click the “analyze disease pattern”-button.
Accordingly, you will get a list of possible diseases and matching doctor categories who can further help you.
You can inform yourself about the possible diseases by reading the related information. But you can also return to the previous step and add more symptoms or delete already added ones to further narrow down your disease pattern.
Click on the desired doctor category to find a doctor who can help you.
If you are logged in with your profile, you will be displayed the appropriate doctors in your area. Otherwise you can enter an address in the “address” field and you will be displayed a doctor’s list around that specified address.
You will receive further information about the displayed doctors when you press on “details”.
Online bookable doctors in your area will be indicated with the notation “Book appointment” or “Book externally”, additionally they will be displayed on top of the list for your convenience.
Click on “Book appointment” to start the online appointment booking process with the desired doctor.
Please select an available appointment. “Green“ appointments are booked directly. “Red“ appointments need to be confirmed by the doctor.
Enter your general personal and health information.
Enter your present medical symptoms.
Enter your mobile phone number to identify yourself and you can finalize the appointment booking.
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