Major Warning Signs You Have a Blood Clot

Chest pain

When you have chest pain, it could be caused by multiple things. For example, it could indicate an issue with your heart. But if you experience pain whenever you take a breath, you may have a blood clot in your lungs.

How long the pain lasts can help determine if this is a clot or not. Fleeting pain that soon goes away is likely not a clot. However, if you experience lasting heaviness or pressure, it could be a clot that’s causing it. The same goes for pain that seems to travel from the front of your chest to the back.

As usual, we recommend caution. If you’re not sure what is causing your chest pain, you should consult with your doctor ASAP!

Changing to your varicose veins

Do you already have varicose veins? In that case, keep a close eye on them. After all, changes to your varicose veins may indicate that you have a blood clot affecting your legs (which is sometimes referred to as deep vein thrombosis).

For instance, one big warning sign is if you have a vein that sticks out and never flattens down. That may mean you have a small blood clot inside the leg. Another warning sign is if you have a vein that suddenly hardens, seemingly out of nowhere. Finally, if you have skin around a vein that has turned tender and red, you may be dealing with a blood clot inside your body.

Intense leg pain

Varicose vein laser surgery recovery and prevention, Compression Stockings Thigh

Leg pain can be a warning sign of a blood clot. As with chest pain, though, you need to pay careful attention to the nature of the pain.

As an example, you don’t need to worry too much if you have the occasional charley horse or leg cramp. And the main reason you don’t have to worry is that this kind of pain is short and fleeting.

If you have a blood clot, you are likelier to experience lasting leg pain. It may even be a pain that seemingly doesn’t go away! As always, if you have lasting pain and don’t know what is causing it, we recommend you check with your doctor to get some peace of mind.

Serious leg swelling

Woman touching painful varicose veins on a leg

Leg swelling is another one of those blood clot warning signs that can be difficult to diagnose. That’s because plenty of things could cause your legs to swell. For example, legs are typically swollen by the end of the day or even after eating a big meal filled with salty foods.

How can you tell the leg swelling is related to a blood clot, though? First, the swelling is likely to come on much more suddenly than usual, and it is likely to be more painful than usual. Second, the swelling may be caused by a blood clot if elevating your leg doesn’t relieve the pain. Finally, if the pain lingers throughout the entire day, it means you need to go to the doctor and have him scan for a blood clot.

Bloody coughing

Some of the warning signs of a blood clot in the lungs are more dramatic than others. For instance, one of the signs is something that would be enough to send most of us running to the doctor: coughing up blood!

While there are other things that might cause you to cough blood, you may be able to tell you have a blood clot due to both the coloration and amount of your spittle. Basically, if you are coughing up a teaspoon of blood or more, you almost certainly have a clot or other serious issue affecting your body.

Difficulty breathing

Many things can make breathing more difficult for you throughout the day. Sometimes, a quick jog or even a trip up the stairs is enough to leave us feeling winded. When this happens, though, the symptoms go away quickly enough once you catch your breath.

You may be dealing with a blood clot if you get winded more easily than you used to. The biggest warning sign, though, is that these periods of breathlessness last for hours or even for days. When you go that long without being able to breathe easily, it’s time to schedule an appointment with your doctor.