Shop, kitchen, factory floor — heavy legs and swollen ankles at the end of a standing day.
How to workSwelling from standing builds through the day and drains overnight. Swelling still there in the morning, or in one leg only, is a different matter — get it looked at.
See a doctor, not a stretch
Swelling, pain and warmth in one leg only
Swelling with breathlessness or chest pain
Swelling that is still there when you wake
Skin changing colour or breaking down near the ankle
Ankle pumps on the spot
खड़े-खड़े टख़ना चलाना
Where you stand, lift the heels and set them down.
Twenty times.
Every hour through the shift.
This works the calf as a pump and pushes blood back up.
Where you should feel it: The calf squeezing — the heaviness easing.
20 reps, hourly
Calf raise
एड़ी उठाना
Hold something for balance.
Rise onto the balls of the feet, hold two.
Lower slowly.
Before the shift and after it.
Where you should feel it: Work in the calf.
15 reps × 2 sets
Leg elevation
टाँगें ऊपर रखना
Lie down and put pillows under your legs.
Get the feet above the level of the heart.
15–20 minutes.
After the shift, every day.
Where you should feel it: The swelling draining out of the ankles.
Daily, 15–20 minutes
Walk rather than stand
खड़े रहने की जगह चलना
Do not stand still in one spot for long stretches.
Keep shifting your weight from one foot to the other.
Take a few steps every 20–30 minutes.
If you can, rest one foot on something low and alternate.
Where you should feel it: Keeping the legs moving.
Through the shift
Alongside
Shoes with real support and, if you have varicose veins, compression stockings — both do as much as the exercises. Put the stockings on first thing, before the swelling arrives.
Bhojanveda
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