Swollen foot in France

We have been walking a lot since we arrived in France. Two days ago I noticed the top of my foot was all swollen. It was a bit sore when we were walking, but I didn’t think too much of it. I’ve been elevating and icing for a couple days but it is still swollen.

I’m not sure if it was due to the walking, or sitting on a long flight, or something else. It is on my leg that has worse edema - not sure if it is related. This isn’t how I was hoping to start our 7 month France stay. I have a doctor appointment tonight and it may be difficult to get reimbursed from our US insurance as I need an itemized bill in English.

In just over a month we have our trip to Austria that we were planning on doing some hiking. I hope I can.

Sorry to hear that. I just got back from France and yeah, I did a lot of walking. I came through it ok, though.

I have heard that people can get some swelling from plane flights. Maybe that’s what happened. Have you tried taking an over-the-counter diuretic? I am not a doctor, of course!

I’ve just been elevating and icing. I’ll have to see what the doctor says when I see him in a couple hours. I hope he speaks English. My wife speaks some French but it is difficult for her in a conversation. Reading French is easier.

If it’s just one foot, and you’ve had a long flight, there’s a risk of a blood clot in your leg on that side. Ultrasound is usually the way to rule that out. Not to be alarming, just that it’d be the dangerous thing to be sure to rule out.

Yeah, that is one reason I wanted to get in to the Dr. Thank you for the warning. I have a feeling that if the Dr. wants me to get one he will need to refer me since I’m pretty sure this is just a small 2 person practice. I had trouble just finding someone who would take a new patient.

While I have zero medical expertise, I have a little experience with this. If you’re going to any kind of a hospital setting, they’ll be used to this and will be able to issue an itemized bill in English quite promptly. If you’re in Paris, expect the itemized bill paired with a snide comment about how American insurance companies should learn to read another, better language.

When we were in Costa Rica last summer I must have picked up something in the river water or sea water we were in as I got swelling in the leg. It was gradual but not stopping after a few days. So I had the doctor look at it but also did some reading on the symptoms. I guessed cellulitis and he agreed (swelling without burning or itch, and reddish color). Antibiotics helped knock it out. Doesn’t sound like that’s what you got but having your doc take a look is a good plan.

I went to the doctor and my wife translated the best she could. When I took my compression sock off the swelling was noticeably less than the last couple days, and even earlier today. So when the doctor looked at it it didn’t look like much. He gave my calf a squeeze and said it wasn’t anything serious.

But…he prescribed a drug to take for a month to improve circulation. I looked it up and it is used to treat diabetes, which I don’t have. There is even a study where they thought it might even cause water retention. I called my brother in law who is a pharmacist and he didn’t understand what that drug would be used. So, I’m not going to take it.

I hope I can find an English speaking doctor for next time. This guy’s waiting room also smelled of cigarette smoke, so that was interesting.

It only cost 25 euros, so it wasn’t an expensive experiment.

I saw tons of smokers in France during my visit. I’m guessing people just had the smell on their clothes.

Maybe, but we were the only ones in the room. He had 1 patient in with him in the exam room when we got there.

I may be mistaken, but it sounds like you are staying for a long while in France. You should be able to subscribe to the local social security, which would cover most of the expense (17 euros if I recall, in the case of the standard convention I fare of 25 euros) and with some luck, your American insurance could take care of the rest.

If you go to a doctor, be sure to check what convention it depends on. There are three of them: “sector I” is the aforementionned 25 euros; “sector II” is what most speciality practioners rely on, and prices are up to 100 euros there, I think. “Sector III” is super rare (about 200 doctors use it, last I heard?) and are the occasional guru/doctors that charge millionaires and movie stars whatever they feel like.
Doctors are legally obligated to tell you their prices before-hand. As such, they usually are posted in their waiting room.

Health isn’t usually too expensive in France, with one notable exception: dental care. The prices for covers and fake teeth are quite insane.

https://www.sfsurgicalarts.com/files/2012/03/missing-tooth-2.jpg

Thanks @Left_Empty.

In the US there is sometimes a clinic associated with a hospital where someone could go in without an appointment, but maybe a fairly long wait. They take care of things as common as strep throat, or more involved things. Do hospitals in France have such a thing?

I think I need to see a vein specialist to see if I now have venous insufficiency in my foot. My doctor suspects I have it in my lower leg, but I haven’t had any foot issues until now.

Thanks

ER do that, but you’ll have to spend, litterally, the day there. The wait time is often beyond 6 hours for a first look, and if you are not an emergency, they may treat you even slower, depending on the amount of emergencies.

To see a specialist in France and get to be be reimbursed is now ridiculously complicated. A few years ago, under Sarkozy, they made it mandatory to go see a generalist practionner merely to get a letter of introduction with a specialist. Maybe your American insurance can allow you to skip that step, but be sure to check with it first.
In the case of veinous disease, you need an echography from a specialist and the poor doctors doing those are overbooked. Be sure to take an appointment as early as you can and check if there is a vacancy. Do not forget also that August is a “dead” month in France: almost the whole country is on vacation (even bakers!), and that is especially true of medical practicioner from my experence.

Because I am suffering from venous insufficiency, I can offer a little tip: if you are not wearing them, it is to wear, daily, all the time, compression socks. Those used to be ugly but nowadays you can hardly tell the difference, and they make a world of change if your legs hurt you because of that condition.
I used to have pain after every walk when I was younger. I then got off a long (12 hours) plane trip with the worst cramping ever the following night, so much we checked it wasn’t a thrombosis. It wasn’t, but I was diagnosed with a bilateral lower leg veinous deficency and ordered to wear those compression socks at all time. My life has been much more easier since then.
I use Sigvaris ones: they cost 30 eurso/pairs, and are reimbursed more often than not by social security (it varies from years to years. It’s one of those idiosyncracies). To be covered, you need a prescription for them from a practionner if, again, it matters for your American insurance.
They are a bit of a pain to manage: you need to wash them by hands, with soap, once/day, and you need to switch to a new pair every time there is a defect (in my experience, this happens about once every 3 weeks to 2 months of alternating two pairs). It still is absolutely worth it.

Edit: they need to cover the lower leg but do not look that bad.
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Also, for daily life purpose, you can go see a pharmacist (there are pharmacies litterally everywhere in the damn country!) who will give you first aid, for whatever condition you may suffer, and some directions. They won’t give antibiotics blindly though, so even for a step throat, you will probably have to check with a doctor.

Thanks again @Left_Empty. I too wear compression socks every day. I’ve got several kinds. I’ve had a hard time finding ones that fit right. I have some Mediven, Sigvaris, CEP, and Core-Spun. The edema in my legs has been well controlled. This edema in my foot is new.

What is the type of doctor that does echographies, so I can look them up in the directory?

My insurance doesn’t require a specialist referral, but I do need to get an itemized bill in English.

Thanks

The practitioner I go see is a “phlebologue”. It is a specialist of veinous problems, and he’s got a doppler/echography device handy to check on my legs when I visit him.
You can often find those specialists in medium sized medical center in Paris, but I am not familiar with how it works in the countryside. The site doctolib.fr is a pretty extensive registry of French practioners that should help you find one geographically close, as well as let you make an appointment with most of them (I dislike to not call on the phone, but more and more doctors ask you to make appointments through that site). It will also tell you what convention sector they are part of. I don’t know if they check thoroughly for scammers or not, but seeing a lot of doctors ask you to reach them through this site, it probably is one of the less risky places on the web.

Since compression socks were brought up, I also wear them on days where I know I will be at work more than 12 hours and sitting on my ass most of that time.

I picked these up on Amazon, figured they were too good to be true going by the asking price. Turns out they are fantastic, I have 14 pair now.

Obligatory, “I am not a doctor.”

Rob do you have new shoes? Perhaps wearing an athletic shoe to walk in that you don’t normally wear? For sure, shoes that are a bit tight will cause foot swelling, so I thought I would at least mention it. Maybe go with another shoe for a day or so to see if you have any symptom change.

I got in to see a specialist today and he did an echography, which I assume is the same thing as a sonogram in the US. There is no blockage and he said he didn’t find anything serious. He said maybe the long flight made my venous insufficiency worse, but nothing serious. I just contimue what I;m doing and maybe find something to raise the foot of my bed a little to improve circulation. At home I have a foot elevating pillow, maybe I’ll have to buy one here or just put some wood under the foot of the bed.

@Skipper, I’ve worn my running shoes (ASICS Gel Cumulus) and some hiking shoes by Merrell. The swelling started with the running shoes and continued with the Merrell. I’m tying them very loosely now to see if it helps. I also stopped lacing the highest eyelets. The Cumulus are a little tighter than I’d like. I kept my shoes off on the plane ride after the first hour.