COPD was the cause of my edema.

Heart failure was the cause of my edema.

My facial edema caused by allergic reaction to a facial cleanser.

I strained my ankle in aerobics when I was 18 years old, and it swelled badly and was very painful. The injury healed, but the edema never went away. I had a scan where I was injected with a radioactive liquid, then scanned several times over 2 hours. This showed that lymph fluid was not being returned back up my leg properly, but it was not a bad enough case to try risky surgical repair of the lymph valve or vessels. I am now 41, and it has been gradually getting worse over the years. It is now permanently swollen, even when I wake up in the morning, and I've given up wearing skirts because I got fed up with people asking what was wrong with my foot and ankle all the time! Would love to know if anyone had similar problem and found a 'cure'.