Mom is 92 yrs old and has congestive heart failure (CHF), afib and now recurrent cellulitis in her left lower leg. She has edema in the leg and her skin splits and gets infected. This is her third bout in 6 months. She is on a blood thinner, Lasix, metoprolol, levoxyl, and she has a pace maker. The doctor treats her each time with an antibiotic and a topical cream. Anything else we can do to prevent this? She is a clean person, and it seems this pops up out of the blue every 3 months or so now.
I put my dad on a daily pre/pro biotic and it has made a huge difference, he has all of the same issues you listed.
I take him to big box stores and walk him until he's pooped. This has been a huge help as well. He can't take any water pill daily because he has kidney disease as well.
I give him colloidal silver daily, 2 hours after the pre/pro biotic, so far no further infections. You can also spray it on the areas of concern. It really is a fabulous anti-bacterial, anti-viral product, no known side effects, unless you drink loads of it and no drug interactions that I could find.
I hope you find something that helps put an end to this brutal cycle.
My mom had a cat who would scratch her legs - which caused most of her cellulitis, we believe. It helped a bit to ensure mom wore long pants to prevent these types of open wounds.
Other than a good moisturizer the steps others have mentioned to keep the swelling down are your best bets. Keeping legs elevated did wonders for my moms swollen calves and ankles.
BTW - it might be a good idea to run the moisturizer brand by her PCP if you can. If not - a good pharmacist at a store like Walgreens should be able to recommend a good brand.
My mother's visiting nurse wanted her to lie down in (or at least on) bed for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Mother wouldn't; but if yours is more co-operative you might find this helpful.
And I agree about mobility exercise, as far as you can persuade her to try. Encourage, remind, assist; but don't force.
Don't forget that although the oedema is most obvious and most visible in her leg, the fluid overload applies to all of her body and it affects oxygen supply, which affects energy levels. So there is a bit of a vicious circle going on. Poor mother feels too exhausted to move around much, but then the oedema gets worse, so she feels even more exhausted...
My suggestion would be to discuss with her physician whether the lasix is working still. Sometimes if a person takes it for a while it can become less effective. They have other medication like metalozone that can work. Just make sure that the dr starts at the lowest dose possible because my mom became dehydrated very quickly. It worked fast. You may also ask the doctor if your mom should be on fluid restrictions. My mom is. It's a balancing act to make sure she drinks enough to keep her kidneys functioning and at the same time not taking in too much fluid. And finally, if the doctor agrees to compression stockings, and you find they are too tight, you can get about 4 wide ace bandages and wrap her legs from the foot up to the knee. 2 per leg is what we use. Keep them on during waking hours and take the wraps off at bedtime. Use guaze pads and some antibiotic ointment cream to cover any open sores first. And try and keep her legs elevated as much as possible. I can't emphasize enough to speak to her primary care physician about these methods. They will help. Good luck.
-I demanded 14 full days of IV antbiotic. (they kept doing only 7 days)
-I put on 30lb compression hose EVERY SINGLE DAY. He's still wearing them.
-I bought QUALITY Turmeric/curcumin and gave him 2,000-2500mg per day (with meals)
-I loaded him up with quality probiotics twice a day. (at least 2 hrs away from antibiotics if taking them orally)
This was almost 2 yrs ago. It's never come back. It was the only treatment that cured him AND prevented him from getting C-Diff because of the heavy antibiotics. The Dr told me he'd get C-Diff for sure, but she wouldn't listen to me when I told her I could prevent that.
Good luck.