Obesity is dangerous for your feet. Be careful

Dr. K.K. PANDEY Senior Vascular & Endovascular Surgeon Indraprastha Apollo Hospital New Delhi

These days wherever you look, there is a discussion on obesity and overweight. For the last many years, through social media and television channels, various kinds of knowledge and advice are being given about obesity. "Eradicate obesity", "Do not let obesity flourish" etc. Ever since our Prime Minister discussed this topic, the debate on obesity has intensified. Now people wonder why obesity is so harmful. It is known that excess weight or obesity gradually damages all the organs of the body, among which heart, lungs and kidneys are prominent, but very few people know that obesity and overweight are the enemy of your feet. It damages the feet and legs in many ways. Let us understand one by one.

The blood pipe (Deep vein) of the feet can get choked

If you are obese and do not exercise regularly, then you are putting your feet and legs at risk. One day you will find that suddenly there is swelling and heaviness in one leg. You will not understand how this happened? Just a while ago everything was fine in the leg, but why did this swelling occur suddenly? The real reason for this is that blood clots have accumulated in the veins located deep in the leg and the upward flow of blood has stopped and the swelling in the leg has started increasing. If you are under the notion that the muscles of the leg have got strained or cramped that led to sudden leg swelling, then you are totally wrong. If you are careless then these blood clots in the vein of the leg will move upwards and reach the main blood pipe of the lung and block it, which can lead to fatal complications and eventually even death. Do not make the mistake of sitting down for a massage in such a situation and directly inviting death.

Feet persistently remain swollen

If you are obese then it is natural for your feet to swell during the day. This kind of swelling is very less in the morning, but as the day starts to end, the swelling starts increasing and in the evening the swelling of the feet reaches its peak and a slight pain in the feet also develops. The reason for this is the problem of C.V.I. or Chronic Venous Insufficiency in which the valves inside the veins of the leg become non-functional, due to which the impure and deoxygenated blood is not able to rise upwards towards lung for purification. If a prompt treatment is not done, black marks and black patchy spots start appearing on the legs and feet, then the condition of the legs starts getting worse.

Blue veins start appearing in the legs

If you have neither controlled obesity nor taken any step towards reducing it, and have not started walking regularly, then believe me that redness and earthworm-shaped blue veins will start appearing on your legs which will gradually increase in size and take the form of varicose veins. If not treated at the right time, wounds will start forming near the veins in the legs, which are called "varicose ulcers". Understand one thing that if varicose ulcers are allowed to develop, then it will be very difficult for these wounds to heal. In such a situation, consult an experienced vascular surgeon.

Obesity is even more dangerous with diabetics

Obesity with diabetes is even more dangerous. If you are suffering from diabetes along with obesity and are far away from regular daily exercise or any regular walk, then you should understand that you are preparing to lose your leg. In a diabetic patient, fat and calcium get deposited in the arteries that supply pure blood to the legs. This hinders the supply of pure blood. If obesity and sugar are not controlled and regular exercise and daily walking of five to six kilometres is not done, then the supply of pure blood to the legs will get obstructed and gradually wounds, infections and gangrene will develop in the legs. In such a situation, there will be no other way except losing the leg.

How to avoid obesity

The preparations and arrangements to avoid obesity should be started from the days of youth. One should not wait for old age, because it is very difficult to lose weight in old age. Always eat only 80% of your hunger. Make a habit of staying hungry for 20%. Use 300 grams of salad and 400 grams of fruits in your daily diet. Avoid rice, potatoes, pickles and sweets. Do not eat sweets under the pretext of God's Prasad. Even if you feel like eating, take sweets in very small quantity. Stay away from oily, fat increasing food items like pizza, burger, bhature, kulcha and non-vegetarian food items like mutton, chicken. Along with being careful in eating, also pay attention to exercise. Walk five to six kilometres every morning! If possible, walk one to two kilometres in the evening. Do exercise for your joint’s movements. Do not sit continuously for more than an hour. If you have been sitting on your feet for more than an hour, then immediately walk for five to ten minutes and then sit down.

What to do if there is a problem in the legs

If you are overweight and there is swelling and pain in your legs, then without wasting time consult an experienced vascular surgeon and get the problem diagnosed. If there are blood clots in the veins of the legs, then a special machine is used to dissolve the blood clots and remove them without surgery. If the blue veins in the legs have become more prominent or black marks and black spots have started appearing, then a special technique called laser or RFA is used in which no cuts have to be made on the skin of the legs and the patient returns to work the very next day of the procedure. Sometimes angioplasty also has to be resorted to in case of swelling of the legs. If there is diabetes along with obesity and there is a blockage in the artery carrying pure blood to the legs, then angioplasty and stenting have to be resorted to. Sometimes in such a condition arterial bypass surgery of the legs has to be done.