does edema hurt?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello, all. Brand new PCA here.

Just wondering: when a pt has severe edema, does it hurt more than normal to them when I touch or move their legs? There is a pt with legs swollen to double or triple their size... feels very strange to touch them, but I was just wondering if it hurts the pt?

Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

Aside from the skin being stretched disproportionately, think of the bones, muscles and tendons being extremely constricted in their normal movement and ROM. Especially in the feet where there are so many small bones in a small space. Makes me uncomfortable just thinking about it!

Specializes in Nephrology.

Yes, it hurts. I am diabetic and don't have neuropathy so I really feel it. When it is bad I can hardly walk. I have had a nurse look at my legs when they are bed and tell me they were going to split open if I didn't do something (my doctor had declined to give me a diuretic at that point. he has since changed his mind....)

On another note, at one point in my career we had a pt wo had massive edema and when we were turning her myself and another nurse put our fingers right through the skin on her lower legs. It was just gross and I felt so badly for the lady.

Yes, it hurts. I am diabetic and don't have neuropathy so I really feel it. When it is bad I can hardly walk. I have had a nurse look at my legs when they are bed and tell me they were going to split open if I didn't do something (my doctor had declined to give me a diuretic at that point. he has since changed his mind....)

On another note, at one point in my career we had a pt wo had massive edema and when we were turning her myself and another nurse put our fingers right through the skin on her lower legs. It was just gross and I felt so badly for the lady.

OMG- that had to be so hard to handle :eek:

Diabetes here, too- and even moderate edema (I have my own measuring system based on how many of my tendons are visible; knees don't bend well enough to poke a finger in- but doubt it would be more than 1+) is uncomfortable. It's just plain tight.

Yes edema on the legs is painful. As a nursing student, my first day of a 12 hour shift during Leadership, my legs swelled when I got home. I had pitting edema on my lower legs. When I went back the next day, I told the staff, "If you ever wonder if pitting edema is painful for your patients, the answer is yes."

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I was recently dx'd as diabetic and already have neuropathy that's spreading t/o my right foot and leg, which is the same leg that's always had quite a bit of edema (the left leg not so much). Both feet tend to swell pretty badly though, and those puppies really DO hurt, especially when I'm up to about 2+ pitting and can't get a shoe on. :rolleyes: It's hereditary---all the women in my family have had it, and it's at its worst in the summer.

The neuropathy is weird, though. It has no particular pattern.......started on the outside of the right baby toe years ago, then took off like a house afire this past spring. Now the numbness runs about halfway down the lateral side of the right foot, skips a couple of toes and then there's this tingling in between the great and 2nd toes, as well as a creeping, crawling sort of numbness on the bottoms of all five toes and the outer lower leg that tickles if I touch a certain nerve near the knee. It feels as though I've just brushed my leg up against a spider web....not a horrible feeling, just creepy.

Then there's the big toe on my other foot, which occasionally likes to pretend that someone just trained a blowtorch on it, thereby causing me to clench my teeth so that I don't cuss. That bad boy BURNS.....thank God it's not like that all the time, or I'd be one of those people roosting on the pharmacy doorstep in the morning so I can get to the Neurontin before anyone else does. :uhoh3:

VivaLasViejas- that sounds miserable. I'm so sorry :(

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I don't particularly enjoy it, but it could be a lot worse. I just sent a resident to the hospital today who has it really badly---she has the trifecta of obesity, CHF, and diabetes, and her circulation is so poor that she's in constant pain, even with good strong doses of gabapentin and lots of diuretics. Her edema was so bad that even her toes looked like grapes ready to burst open.......it had to be SO uncomfortable. :cry:

That is sad. One thing leukemia has done for me is not mind the other stuff so much - LOL... and at least I've got a shot at being cured of the cancer (the other stuff is here to stay). :)

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
That is sad. One thing leukemia has done for me is not mind the other stuff so much - LOL... and at least I've got a shot at being cured of the cancer (the other stuff is here to stay). :)

That's kind of like asking, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?" :sniff:

I hope your recovery is swift, uneventful, and LASTING. :hug:

Specializes in Geriatrics, Transplant, Education.

Developed right ankle/pedal edema one night after a particularly long 16 hour shift having worn socks that were quite low cut. Painful, I assure you, and that was very minor compared to some of the other personal experiences mentioned. (Never experienced edema before that, aside from a few ankle sprains as a child). Really feel for my patients---especially a patient I've recently cared for who suffered from anasarca..can't imagine how terrible it was to be swollen all over.

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