"Cankles" What is their cause?

"Cankles" are an interesting phenomenon. Most women are horrified buy the prospect of developing them and a few have elected to have me remove them. However, once the underlying pathology is understood, conservative measures can be helpful to reduce their size and symptoms.

Cankles are prevalent in women and men (John Madden reportedly has cankles of 38") of middle age. There is an inherited component in that our adipose (fatty) layer of tissue is passed on from our parents. Couple this genetic predisposition with Obesity and the phenomenon worsens. The final insult to the ankle fat pads, of which there are two to each ankle bone, one on the front and the other on the backside of the ankle, is the change in hormones that occurs with the onset of menopause. Every woman that has passed through this point of maturity realizes how their body has changed as particular fat distributions all over their body change shape.
There is one more aggravating factor, fluid retention, as fluid is retained in the lower extremity it gradually stretches these tissues and thus causes them to become larger, which in turn allows these fat pads to accommodate even more retained fluid. Therefore, they appear to grow when in fact they are only increasing their spatial volume.
At a later date I will discuss treatment options!