Congestive Heart failure can cause swelling in ankles. Also, it can swell in other areas of our body, such as the stomach. The swelling may come and go, but it usually lasts for long periods. In this page, you will be able to see the picture of swollen ankles due to congestive heart failure.
About Swollen Feet/Ankles
Congestive Heart failure makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood through the body that leads to fluid accumulation elsewhere in the body, especially in the feet and legs.
A person may experience the below issues:
- The feet suddenly looked bigger or puffy.
- Your shoes do not fit as well as usual.
- You get pain in your feet, ankles, or legs.
- Walking becomes more difficult.
- Swelling elsewhere in the body, such as the abdomen.
- Unexplained weight gain.
Warning: Swelling in the feet and ankles may be less severe when a person first wakes and will worsen as their day goes on.
What Is Congestive Heart Failure?
The heart is basically a blood pump. It pumps blood from the right side of our heart to the lungs to pick up oxygen. After that, the oxygenated blood returns to the left side of the heart. Then, the left side of the heart pumps blood into the circulatory system of blood vessels which carry blood throughout the body.
- The heart consists of 4 chambers.
- The two upper chambers are named atria, and the two lower chambers are named ventricles.
- The right atrium and right ventricle receive our blood from the body through the veins. Then, pump the blood to the lungs.
- The left atrium and left ventricle receive our blood from the lungs and then pump it out via the aorta into the arteries that feed all organs and tissues of the body with oxygenated blood.
Because the left ventricle has to pump blood to the entire body, then it is a stronger pump than the right ventricle.
The heart is a pump which works together with the lungs. Our heart pumps blood from the veins through our lungs where oxygen is added, and then moves it on to the arteries. This action makes a relatively high pressure in the arteries and a low pressure in the veins.
Congestive Heart failure (CFH) is a disease in which the pumping action of your heart becomes less and less powerful. When this occurs, our blood does not move efficiently through the circulatory system and it starts to back up, improving the pressure in our blood vessels and forcing fluid from the blood vessels into the body tissues. Symptoms based on which area of the body is most involved in the reduced pumping action.
- When the left side of your heart starts to fail, then fluid collects in the lungs. This fluid in the lungs makes it more difficult for the airways to expand as a person inhales. Breathing becomes more difficult. The person may feel short of breath, especially with activity or when lying down.
- When the right side of the heart starts to fail, fluid begins to collect in the feet and lower legs. Puffy leg swelling is a sign of right heart failure, particularly if the edema is pitting edema. For note: non-pitting edema is not caused by heart failure.
- When the right heart failure worsens, then the upper legs swell and finally the abdomen collects fluid. Weight gain accompanies fluid retention. It is a reliable measure of how much fluid is being retained.
Even though heart failure is a serious medical condition, there are lots of causes and the outcome may vary from person to person. Heart failure can develop gradually over some years, or more quickly after a heart attack or a disease of the heart muscle. Congestive heart failure is generally classified as systolic or diastolic heart failure. It becomes progressively more common with increasing age. Aside from that, the patients with risk factors for heart disease are more likely to develop CHF (Congestive Heart Failure).
Congestive Heart Failure Symptoms and Warning Signs
Sometimes people with congestive heart failure do not suspect an issue with their heart or have symptoms which may not obviously be from the heart.
- Early symptoms can include coughing, shortness of breath, or a feeling of not being able to get a deep breath, particularly when lying down.
- If a person has a breathing problem, such as asthma, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), or emphysema, they may have an attack or worsening of that condition.
- If a person usually does not have breathing issues, they may think that they have a cold, bronchitis or flu.
- Any or some of these above conditions can coexist along with congestive heart failure.
Congestive heart failure (CHF) can have the below major symptoms and signs.
- Exercise intolerance
A person cannot tolerate exercise or even mild physical exertion that she or he may have been able to do before. Our body needs oxygen and other nutrients during physical activity. A failing heart will not be able to pump enough blood to give these nutrients to the body. The ability to exercise, or to walk at a normal pace, may be limited by feeling tired and having shortness of breath. - Shortness of breath
If you have congestive heart failure, you may have difficulty breathing, particularly when you are active. Usual activities, such as sweeping or walking around the house, can be difficult or impossible. The shortness of breath which accompanies these activities usually gets better with rest. - Fluid retention and swelling
Puffy swelling in the feet, legs, and the ankles may happen, especially at the end of the day or after prolonged sitting. Frequently, the swelling is more noticeable in the ankles or on the lower leg in the front where the bone is close to the skin. Pitting edema can happen once pressing down on the skin in the puffy areas. The indentation where the finger pressed can be visible for several minutes. Actually, pitting edema is not synonymous with heart failure. It may have other causes, including liver and kidney failure.
