Signs and Symptoms
Symptoms may include severe fatigue, a heavy swollen limb or localized fluid accumulation in other body areas, including the head or neck, discoloration of the skin overlying the lymphedema, and eventually deformity (elephantiasis).
Lymphedema should not be confused with edema arising from venous insufficiency, which is not lymphedema. However, untreated venous insufficiency can progress into a combined venous/lymphatic disorder which is treated the same way as lymphedema.
Presented here is an extreme case of severe unilateral hereditary lymphedema which had been present for 25 years without treatment:
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Comparison of normal and swollen limb
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Size of swollen foot, toes underneath
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Another view of lymphedemic foot
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Foot and leg (held vertically)
Read more about this topic: Lymphedema
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