Personally I would think the massage and physio is fine. I do not think that 7 weeks old clots will embolise (i.e get mobilised and go to the lungs to cause PE) , especially as you are on anticoagulation.

I would avoid hot baths, sauna or hot tubs, basically as the heat widens the veins, thus slows down the blood flow and may increase your DVT symptoms. Here Im partly speaking from my own experience. Last summer I went to this very nice and very hot outdoor pool, spent there about 30 mins but the price I had to pay was a bed rest for 2-3 hours to wait for the swelling to decrease and pain to go down. With hindsight, this pool was actually so nice that it was still worth it, but I can guarantee that this was not my opinion at the time when I was hobbling back from the pool...

Me personally, I stay away from massage, even now, almost ten years after my first DVT. Well, more accurately, I stay away from massage on that leg. They're fine to do everywhere else on my body... just not my right leg.

For me, it is more psychological than anything else. I definitely don't like anything tight on that leg. I don't like it being rubbed, I don't like anything pressing where the clot was. Not because its uncomfortable, but because my brain can't take it.

You're 7 weeks out and I would definitely check with a doctor before doing this. Actually, you might be able to check with your masseuse or physio too... they may have rules about when they'll start working with you post-DVT. A lot of medical pros are skittish about post-clot care, so it might be worth finding out if they'll even see you right now.

I will tell you that there isn't any good way to push your leg to heal faster. It is possible that some stretches might help with the stiffness, but for the most part, I think you really do have to give your body time. However, if you think they can help, and your doctor (and physio) are OK with it, I can't see the harm in trying it out.

I would think it would be ok at this point but can't say for sure since none of us knows the state of your clots and having had the procedure you had, if that has any special considerations. I'd hate to say go for it and it ends up causing you a problem. But I suspect since you're almost 2 months out it should be ok, I'm thinking.

You may find a massage therapist will use their own discretion or have their own standards for whom they will or won't perform massage therapy. You also may find is that the massage is painful or uncomfortable. My legs are completely off limits during a massage. I can't stand my DVT leg to be touched even so far out after my DVT.

I had the same issue you had after my DVT. I had to wear a certain type of tennis shoes I happened to have where it was almost like a really low wedge, so the heel was higher than the rest of the shoe. I actually wore those tennis shoes all the time around the house, because it was too painful to walk barefoot. It got better with time.

You've probably done this already but if not, check your discharge papers or records to see if it's documented anywhere any kind of specific limitations.

Toss, we were typing at the exact same time!

I would avoid massaging the stent site at least. Actually, if you want to be very safe, you may ask the massager not to massage the area around the ilio-femoral vein (upper thigh and hips).

By the way, you said that your DVT was most likely caused by a procedure done to the veins. what procedure was that?

Finally, considering that you have your DVT in the left leg, has May Thurner syndrome been ruled out? While this is a rare syndrome, it is probably underdiagnosed. It is caused by the iliac artery pressing on the iliac vein in the left leg. Statistically speaking, it affects more women than men and is diagnosed mostly at relatively young age. In many cases it causes no symptoms, but in some cases when other risk factors appear (e.g. pregnancy), the risk of DVT can increase. Due to its rarity, it is always unlikely but you can ask your doctor about this, just in case. Diagnosis is difficult, but that can be done with venogram and intervenous ultrasound. See e.g. http://www.clotcare.com/may_thurner_blood_clots.aspx

As you all can tell, I'm not very good at just waiting for things to get better.

I AM wary about anyone touching my legI was thinking more physio than massage; I was hoping that it could do something with ultrasound or exercises that would help. My PT did say that loosening/releasing the soft tissue would help but she also said to clear it with my doctor, which is hard to do as he's on holiday until the end of the month (and a call to his office only advices to call HealthLink for any issues so he doesn't seem to have anyone covering for him). I don't know if a walk-in clinic doctor would be of any help in this?

rmb, it's such a relief to hear that someone else had the same problem! Everyone at the hospital seemed to find it unusual and I was beginning to think it was just one of my "things". How long did yours take to resolve? My biggest problem with it is showering; I've ordered a pair of water sandals with some heel and hope that'll help.
My discharge papers tell me to take my meds (Warfarin and Plavix), have an ultrasound at 6 months, cut off the compression bandage I was sent home with and get compression stockings. The discharging doctor verbally told me not to do massage, hot tub, sauna...(I wish she'd said for how long).

stefan014, the procedure I had done was an adrenal vein sampling: a radiologist inserts catheters into the veins through the groins to the adrenal glands to check the levels of a hormone called aldosterone. Unfortunately, something went wrong and I had internal bleeding, which led to a hospital stay of nearly a week before the DVT happened (in fact I was still in quite some pain at the time of the DVT because of it). No one mentioned May Thurner syndrome, possibly because, according to the dischaurge papers, the DVT was bilateral although I never noticed any symptoms in the right leg, nor did anyone in hospital mention it.

I think it took a month or two for me to be able to go barefoot for any length of time and to wear other kinds of shoes. I wore those tennis shoes everywhere for a while.

I don't know if PT would help with that or not.

You have to remember your body sort of suffered a trauma. Like most any kind of injury; it takes time to heal.

Hi JadesFire
Sorry to hear that this minor operation went so wrong. This was really bad luck. I assume because of your bleeding, it was not possible to prevent clotting with anticoagulants as it would have increased the bleeding. Can you get some compensation? i.e is this treated as a mistake by the doctor?

With regard to the "bilateral DVT", perhaps you had some minor clotting in the "non-affected" leg, thus they called it "bilateral", who knows.

As May Thurner is uncommon, I would be surprised that they would have asked about it before hand. Next time you see a specialist (e.g. haemo or vascular) you can ask him/her about this possibility. Clearly your DVT is linked to this catheter operation though.

rmb, what did you do in the shower?

And for all: has anyone used a foam roller on DVT affected leg? Or is it too much like massage? I used to use it every morning for stretching and it helped a lot, especially with my tight quads. Would it be okay to resume?

I would take very quick showers standing or sit on the edge of the tub and wash. I just tried to be realty careful to not slip.

As far as whether the foam roller is ok, I don't know that anyone can say for certain if it's ok or not. I'm afraid this line of questioning about what is or isn't ok for you to do is bordering on asking for medical advice which we can't and shouldn't provide. Given the doctor who treated you seems conservative, I don't know if that is for good reason or if she's over reacting so I'd hate to steer you wrong and make things worse for you.

Fair enough. Things have improved enough that I think I can wait it out until I see a doctor and see what they say.

I need a new GP. I finally saw mine today (he's been away since before the DVT 11 weeks ago) and when I asked about physio or chiro he said I shouldn't be doing any physical activity for 6 months. There goes his credibility. He will be sending me to a haematologist but that appointment won't be for months I'm sure (that's the regular timeframe to see specialists here in Calgary unless it's vital).

No physical activity for 6 months because of the DVT? Ok maybe no physio or chiro, but no physical activity (walking, swimming, bike, etc) at all? Why?

Good question, rmb. He just said "Oh, no, no , it's dangerous." when I asked about exercise and dance. When I reminded him I was 3 months out, he said "No, for six months. You should just take it easy and elevate the leg." I guess he hasn't read anything current on the recovery from DVT; I wouldn't be surprised. I don't know, is the concern about PE?

I won't be taking his advice: the leg has felt much better since I started going to the gym and dancing again. I AM taking it slowly, building up, nowhere near what I was doing before.

I can see when you're first diagnosed because you don't want the clot to travel but Iby month 3, that probably isn't a real concern. I had a DVT and PE and was in the hospital for 7 days. By day three, my doctor insisted I walk as much as possible and upon discharge said to continue to walk, light exercise was fine, to do what was comfortable and just build up from there. So yeah, I think your doc is over cautious, antiquated in his thinking, or maybe both. Crazy. Glad you're going to find someone else.