How do you avoid getting blood clots?


Quick Answer

To avoid getting blood clots, exercise regularly and manage your weight by eating a high-fiber, low-fat diet, states WebMD. Refraining from smoking, and stay hydrated, especially when traveling. Also, avoid wearing short, tight socks or crossing your legs, and limit alcohol and caffeine. If you take birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy, discuss options for preventing blood clots with your doctor. Doctors sometimes prescribe anticoagulant medications to prevent blood clots.

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Full Answer

Blood clots sometimes develop due to lack of activity when blood pools in the veins and thickens to form a clot, explains Everyday Health. Blood clots usually occur in the legs, but they sometimes develop in other parts of the body as well. If the clot breaks off and travels to the lung, it results in a pulmonary embolism, a serious condition which leads to lung damage and, possibly, death.

Movement, such as walking, helps keep the blood circulating, thereby helping in the prevention of blood clots, states Everyday Health. If you are traveling long distances by car, stop periodically and walk. If seated for hours at a desk or in a plane, do leg exercises, such as ankle circles and leg raises while sitting, or get up and stretch your legs.

A blood clot is also known as a deep-vein thrombosis, or DVT. Smoking, birth control pills, inactivity and hormone replacement therapy all increase blood clotting, making blood clots more likely, explains Everyday Health.

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