Deep Vein Thrombosis Signs

Recognizing a blood clot in a leg before it travels to the lungs

Step by Step

A deep vein thrombosis usually shows as pain, swelling, tenderness, and warmth in one calf or thigh, sometimes with reddened skin. Risk rises after long flights, surgery, injury, pregnancy, cancer, and with some medicines. It needs medical assessment the same day: contact a doctor or urgent line, since a clot can break off and cause a life threatening pulmonary embolism. Do not massage the leg. Call emergency services for sudden breathlessness, chest pain worse on breathing in, coughing blood, dizziness, or fainting. Hospital treatment is blood thinning medication. On long journeys, getting up and walking every couple of hours and flexing the ankles reduces risk.