Swollen Ankles and Oedema — An Advance7 Customer Review

Barbara · Age 70 · Skipton

Some of our customers come to us with a long list. Barbara wasn’t one of them. All she really wanted was to get out to her garden, walk down into town and back, and not have to think about her ankles every step of the way. So that’s where we started.

You’re 70 now. What does a good day look like for you?

Oh, nothing fancy, love. I’m not climbing mountains. A good day is I get up, I’m not creaking too much, I get out into the garden and do a bit, maybe walk into Skipton and have a natter. That’s the whole ambition these days. Keep pottering about under my own steam.

And what was getting in the way of that?

My ankles, mostly. Both of them, but the right one’s the troublemaker. By teatime they’d be sore and swollen, my legs would ache and hurt, and I’d be sat with my feet up wishing I hadn’t done so much. It does wear you down, that. When your feet start telling you to sit down, you start doing less. And once you start doing less, you do less again. That’s the bit that frightened me.

Did you ever find out what was behind it?

I’ve got a touch of oedema, the doctor calls it. Fluid that settles in the ankles. Mine’s not severe, I’m lucky that way, more of a nuisance than anything, but the swelling did get to be a problem by the evening. I’ll say this, mind: if yours is bad, you stay on top of it with your doctor and keep up with whatever they’ve told you to do, don’t take chances with that. Mine’s manageable, and doing my ankles of an evening with the cream has become a nice soothing little routine. It’s not treating the oedema, I know that, it just feels lovely and it’s part of how I look after myself.

Was it worse at any particular time?

Night-time, that was the worst of it. I’d get into bed and that’s when I’d really feel it, ankle pain at night while I was resting, throbbing away, and I couldn’t get comfortable or drop off. And you know how it is, one bad night and the next day’s a write-off, you don’t want to do anything. It started to get me down. Such a small thing, sore ankles, but it creeps into everything.

How did you come across Advance7 for Feet?

I bought it for my feet, would you believe, it’s in the name, isn’t it. Dry old heels, the lot. I wasn’t thinking about my ankles at all. But I had it there on the side, so one evening when the ankle was grumbling I rubbed a bit in around the ankle and up the side, and it was just soothing. Nice. So I kept doing it.

So you started using it somewhere it wasn’t strictly meant for.

I did. Don’t tell anyone. But it’s lovely on the ankles, I find, all round and up the side where it’s sorest. I do them both of an evening now, before I sit down. It’s become a little routine. I’d not be without it.

Has it made a difference to your evenings?

It has. Once I got into doing my ankles of an evening and started sleeping better, I felt more like myself. And it’s a funny thing, when you start looking after one part of you, you start looking after the rest. I found myself getting out and walking a bit further. Mind you, a good walk just means I don’t feel so guilty about my bowl of ice cream of an evening.

Is it a miracle cure?

No, and I’d not believe anyone who told me there was one at my age. It’s not magic. But it helps, and it helps enough that I notice. I’m getting out more than I was, and I’m not sat there counting how many steps I’ve got left in me. For me, that’s the whole point of it.

You mentioned your hands as well.

That was the surprise. I’ve got these hardworking old hands, gardener’s hands. After a while of using the cream I looked down and thought, ooh, they’ve come up lovely. Smooth, soft even. I never bought it for my hands, but there we are. So now they get a bit too. Waste not, want not.

If you were talking to someone your age in the same boat, what would you say?

I’d say give it a go. Don’t expect to be running about, just expect to feel a bit better and to keep doing the things you like doing. That’s all I wanted, and that’s what I’ve got. And put a bit on your hands while you’re at it.

Barbara’s experience is her own. Everyone’s different, and Advance7 for Feet is a skincare cream, not a treatment for any medical condition. If you have ongoing pain or swelling, or you are managing something like oedema, keep following your doctor’s advice and have a word with your GP.