How To Prevent Blood Clots

Hello there, my name is Dr. Gemma Newman and I'm a GP based in West London. Today, I'd like to give you a few great tips to improve your general health and prevent a variety of problems.

I'd like to talk to you today about how to prevent blood clots. Now, blood clots can clog vessels in your body, pretty much anywhere. But, the most commonly known areas where you can get blood clots are in the leg, a so-called deep vein thrombosis or DVT, or in the lungs, a pulmonary embolism or PE.

Now, these can be fatal. So, it's vitally important for you to know what the causes of these are so you know then how to minimize your risk. So, what causes blood clots? Generally speaking, anything that causes sluggish circulation.

So, being inactive can be a precipitating factor as can advancing age, anything that makes your blood more likely to clot than normal. So if you've had an injury or recent surgery, then these will also make you more prone to blood clot formation. Pregnancy, and obesity, and any illness which can damage or inflame blood vessels like lupus or cancer can also make you more prone to blood clots.

Certain medications will also make you more prone to blood clots. Things like the combined oral contraception pill, or hormone replacement therapies. So, moving on to how to prevent blood clots, since we now know the causes, my advice to you would be to try to make sure that you walk regularly.

This will boost your circulation and make it much less likely that you will get blood pooling in your veins. If you're going to have to sit in a constricted place like an airplane, then do try to move around at least every hour or so, and do the foot and calf exercises that your airline recommends for you. Sometimes people like to wear compression stockings on long haul flights, or take an aspirin to help thin the blood.

If you are overweight, then losing weight will minimize your risk blood clots in the future. If you've had a big operation, then compression stockings are usually advised for before the operation and also after wards. Some operations, the medical staff will actually give you heparin injections to help thin your blood and this may occur either before or after your surgery.

If you're not sure about any of the advice I've given you today, do ask your doctor. I hope that this has been useful for you. .