Contact & swelling assessment

If you are worried now

If one leg or arm is swollen, warm and tender, or you are breathless or have chest pain with it, or your lips, tongue or throat are swelling, or breathing is difficult, seek emergency care immediately. Do not wait for a reply and do not travel to a routine appointment. This website is not an emergency channel and is not monitored as one.

When to come in

Swelling that has genuinely stopped improving, that is confined to one limb, that is tense or painful in one place, or that comes with redness, heat, fever, discharge, weight gain or breathlessness is seen promptly rather than at a planned review. Swelling that is still slowly improving is reviewed at the interval your team set. If you are unsure which you are looking at, describe what you see on the telephone and let the team decide rather than deciding for yourself that it can wait.

What to bring

Bring the dates and the areas of the procedure, a list of your medicines including hormonal treatments and pain relief, and any record of a previous clot or of previous surgery in the same area. Photographs taken in the same light at the same time of day, dated over the past few weeks, are the single most useful thing you can bring, because they show the direction the swelling is moving in rather than how it looks this morning.

What the assessment covers

The examination reads softness, pitting, warmth, tenderness and the condition of the skin, compares one side with the other, and records a measurement or a photograph that a later visit can be judged against. You should leave with clear answers: whether the swelling is ordinary, whether anything has been found that needs treating, what the plan is, and when it will be reviewed.

Fees, records and privacy

This site does not quote prices, because the plan depends on the findings and is discussed directly at consultation. What was seen and what was done is documented so that the record follows you, and photographs taken at each visit are what allow swelling to be judged rather than remembered. Clinical photographs are not published or used for teaching without a separate consent you are free to refuse.