Treating Post-Thrombotic Syndrome

Nearly 50% of patients who go through a deep vein thrombosis will suffer with post-thrombotic syndrome. Post-thrombotic syndrome causes pain, swelling, skin changes and ulcers if not treated and it can eventually become quite nasty if left untreated. 

Invasive PTS Treatment

At the moment there is no surgical treatment available in the United Kingdom for patients with post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS). However, treatments are available in the United States of America; surgeons go in, strip the vein and repair the damaged valves and early reports have suggested that approximately 95% of patients who have this treatment are relieved of their symptoms. 

You can find out more information in the article What is Post-Thrombotic Syndrome where I talk about the surgical options.

Non-Invasive Treatment for PTS

As there are no surgical options available to me in the UK my doctor and I are looking at non-invasive treatments to try and relieve some of my symptoms. At the moment I am wearing compression stockings to help return the blood to my heart and avoid swelling in my lower limbs. We have also just started using Arnica Montana cream as a new treatment: research has shown us that the anti-inflammatory qualities help to reduce swelling and pain in PTS patients. I have only been using this treatment for a few days but I will provide an update to let you know if the treatment is working.

You can find some more information in the article Treating Post-Thrombotic Syndrome.

Arnica Cream 50g

This is the cream that I am using at the moment. It has a nice smell to it and is non-greasy so it absorbs very easily into the skin. Because I have such a large clot I'm finding that I have to use quite a large amount (about a 50p size) to get good coverage of the area but since it is non-greasy and smells nice I don't really mind.