A Vein Treatment Center in NJ Explains What Wikipedia Can't Tell You about Swollen Legs and Ankles

Information may not be reliable

The free-access, user-maintained Internet encyclopedia called Wikipedia is a remarkable success story and a valuable tool. Despite the fact that it is non-profit and has no paid editors, it now contains over 35 million articles and makes them available worldwide in 288 different languages, and these articles have a reputation for being "mostly accurate."

As a result, many people have gotten into the habit of using Wikipedia to look up medical conditions to find out more about them. As a "first stop" before moving on to more reputable sources of information, such as a vein treatment center in New Jersey, this can be useful. But in this article we will try to present reasons why you shouldn't rely on Wikipedia (or any other online medical resource) completely, because they don't give you the whole story.

As an example, try looking up "swollen legs & ankles" on Wikipedia

What you'll find is some information on the subject that is accurate but not complete. The article on this subject, for example, will suggest that most cases of swollen legs and ankles are caused by water retention, and happens when fluid leaks from capillaries into surrounding tissue. What the article fails to address is what causes this water retention. It also recommends taking diuretic medications, which is dangerously misleading, because it ignores many other possible reasons for water retention, some of them serious.

This article also ignores the most common cause of these symptoms

If you had asked a real New Jersey vascular doctor such as Dr. John Chuback about swollen legs & ankles, what he would tell you is that a high percentage of cases are caused by a vein disease called chronic venous insufficiency, or CVI. This is the most common cause of varicose veins, but it is also one of the most common causes of swollen legs and ankles. Taking diuretics to reduce the swelling not only doesn't work if you have CVI, it can make the condition worse, because it might provide some temporary relief while allowing the vein disease to get worse.

So if you have swollen legs and ankles, contact a real NJ vein expert

Don't risk your overall health by relying on a useful but limited crowd-sourced Internet encyclopedia. Take your questions about swollen legs and ankles to professionals who have studied their causes and treatments for many years by just picking up your phone and giving us a call at 201-693-4847.