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Why do your ankles swell?
Edema (Swelling of Body Parts) .
Peripheral or dependent edema is the accumulation of fluid in the parts of the body that are most affected by gravity. In ambulatory peo…ple these are the legs 1 . As people age, the body naturally loses some power of circulation, making it more likely for gravity to pull fluids to the lower extremities, and less likely for that fluid to be put back into the body's circulation. The most common way to treat this is elevation of the legs and compression stockings. .
Causes of peripheral edema are: .
high hydrostatic pressure of the veins, leading to poor reabsorption of fluid .
venous obstruction, e.g. deep vein thrombosis (typically one-sided) .
congestive heart failure .
varicose veins .
asymmetric compression of thigh and leg (e.g., knee pads, tight jeans) .
low oncotic pressure .
cirrhosis .
malnutrition .
nephrotic syndrome (renal protein loss) .
epidemic dropsy .
obstruction of lymph drainage .
infection .
cancer .
fibrosis after surgery .
filariasis .
inflammation (active secretion of fluid into the interstitial space due to increased membrane permeability by inflammatory mediators): .
allergic conditions (e.g. angioedema) .
any other form of inflammation ( tumor - or swelling - is one of the main characteristics of inflammation) 1 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edema (MORE)