Mar
i sprained my ankle last thursday. the swelling is pretty much entirely gone, and im off my crutches and walking around, however the muscles in my foot are really bruised and areas on my foot are splotched with purple. this is probably the internal bruising. however, what i can't figure out is that when ever i am laying down (e.g sleeping or anything really) then i wake up and stand up to walk somewhere, it seems that me standing up (even without even putting any weight on my hurt foot) causes a brief period of excruciating pain. lasts about a minute or so. why does blood rushing to my foot cause so much pain. even if im standing in an elevator and take some weight off my foot. the first couple steps hurts really bad, and i have to limp. then once i get walking on it, it sort of subsides and feels superior.
anyone have a biological explanation for this?
Answer:
Orthostatic hypotension is primarily caused by gravity-induced blood pooling in the lower extremities, which in turn compromises venous return, resulting in decreased cardiac output and subsequently lowering of arterial pressure. For example, if a person changes from a lying position to standing, he or she will lose about 700 ml of blood from the thorax. It can also be noted that even though there is a decreased systolic (contracting) blood pressure, there is actually an increased diastolic (resting) blood pressure. However, the overall effect is an insufficient blood perfusion in the upper part of the body.