10 Things You Need to Know About Blood Clots

10. Treating Blood Clots and Hematomas

Thankfully, medicine has come a long way regarding the diagnosis and treatment of blood clots.  If you think you might have arterial clots or deep-vein thrombosis, the first thing your doctor will likely do is perform an ultrasound to see how the blood is flowing through your veins (i.e. easily, or with difficulty). From there, depending on severity, your doctor might recommend blood thinners, or compression stockings (to help blood flow). If the clotting is more substantial and risky, your doctor might treat it by way of thrombolysis, which delivers medication to the vein through a catheter, or vena cava filters, which are little metal filters that keep arteries open.