Take Action - What can you do to protect yourself from a blood clot?

What to do next

It is a recent Government recommendation that EVERY patient in hospital receives a blood clot risk assessment.¹ This involves a checklist that the ward doctor or nurse will run through. For example, they may ask a number of questions, e.g. about your age, medical history, whether you’ve had any procedures or operations while staying in hospital, and so on. If you tick any of the boxes mentioned in the Are you at risk? section of this website, you may be at high risk of developing a blood clot in hospital.¹

If this is the case, your doctor may prescribe you a treatment to help prevent a dangerous blood clot from forming.¹ Your doctor may call this thromboprophylaxis (pronounced throm-bo-pro-fil-ak-sis), which simply means a way of preventing dangerous blood clots.¹ There are a number of treatments which are available, and your doctor or nurse are the best people to speak to about them. Find out more about blood clots in the Facts and Figures section of this website, or by downloading the free information booklet. The most important thing you can do to help stoptheclot for yourself and for your loved ones is to speak up. By making your friends and family aware, you could help save your own life or one of theirs.

What else can you do to protect yourself?

Whether you’re at high risk of developing a dangerous blood clot, or whether you just want to protect yourself in case you ever have to spend time in hospital, there are things you can do to help. Remember that you might not be able to plan a stay in hospital, so it’s a good idea to do what you can to protect yourself now. These lifestyle changes won’t just help to reduce your chance of developing a dangerous blood clot; they’ll also help to improve your overall health.³

• Stop smoking
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet low in fat and sugar, and high in fruit and vegetables
• Exercise regularly
• Maintain a healthy weight

If you or a loved one are in hospital, you may also need to wear compression stockings and use compression devices during your stay, and for a while after you have left.³ Compression stockings are worn around your feet, lower legs and thighs, and fit tightly to help your blood to flow more quickly around your body.³ Compression devices are inflatable, and work in the same way, inflating regularly to squeeze your legs and encourage blood flow.³ Once you are well enough, it is important that you try to move around or do leg exercises.³ It’s also important to avoid taking long journeys for four weeks after you come out of hospital.³

Making small changes now and in hospital could help you stop the clot later!

 

 

Blood clots caused because of a hospital stay are the largest cause of preventable hospital death in the UK. 

 

These well-known organisations support Stop the Clot

      

Stop the Clot is a service developed by sanofi-aventis in partnership with the NHS.

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