When they happen on the outside, blood clotting can be a good thing to help prevent excessive bleeding after you’ve been injured. Platelets (a type of blood cell) and proteins in your plasma (the liquid part of the blood) band together and form a clot over the injury, which eventually dissolves once the injury has healed.
Blood clots that strike inside the body, however, can sometimes block a vein or an artery and have serious consequences. A clot that blocks a vein deep in the body is what’s known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVTs can form in any deep vein but it typically develops in the lower leg, thigh, pelvis or arm.
