“How are blood clots dissolved?”
I'm 40 years old, and my doctor said that the blood clot in my leg would dissolve in my leg. How are blood clots dissolved?
2 Answers
Your body has natural biochemical processes to form clots, and natural processes to dissolve clots. Left alone, most clots will eventually be dissolved. For large clots, or clots in dangerous locations, we give anticoagulation medications ("blood thinners") to block the clot formation process; this allows the body's natural clot-dissolving process to work faster. In really bad cases, we can give "clot busting" drugs to rapidly dissolve the clot, though these are reserved for life-threatening illnesses because of the very high risk of bleeding.
If it is a deep venous thrombosis, then it requires medications call anticoagulants, but if it is in a superficial vein, then no treatment is required and your body will resorb the clot.
