Why is swelling bad after surgery?
In: Biology
More often than not, It’s a sign that something is going wrong inside. It can be anything from inflammation due to infection or a reaction to something used, or even a sign that blood or other fluids are pooling underneath the skin.
Swelling is one of typical sign of inflammation. Due to an inflammation Cytokines (special kind of proteins) are emerging and opening your blood vessels. That way more water can go into the infected area.
However: the swelling can also result due to other circumstances. For example due to the operation there will be damage on the tissue which causes blood to spread out, this is more or less inevitable (depending on how “big” the operation was).
Another factor could lymph fluid. If your legs have to lay still for a longer time it’s harder for your body to pump the fluid through the system. Keeping the legs up, special socks and special types of massage will help with that.
Because of those factors it is pretty important to check what’s causing the swelling. This is pretty easy but you have to differentiate.
EDIT: I think this might be a little to detailed for an ELI5 🙂 Sorry
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