Foot clinic

How the state of your feet can affect your health

THIS week: Ankle swelling can lead to leg ulcers. SWOLLEN ankles and pain that worsens on standing, but subsides when legs are raised, along with itchy, weak legs, may be a sign of venous insufficiency — poor blood flow. ‘The veins are not doing their job, causing a backflow of fluid and stretching tissues in the ankles,’ says Dr Michael Harrison-Blount, a podiatry lecturer at the University of Salford.

Skin can then weaken and split, and wounds can become chronic. The end result can be a leg ulcer.