Edema is a problem for people of all ages, and it worries not only women, but also men.
Often, swelling is the result of a disease or poor diet. And even if you are completely healthy, this problem can appear at the most unexpected moment. Nutritionists tell us how to combat edema with nutrition.
The causes of edema can be very different, but they often indicate health problems. Edema appears on the body due to a large accumulation of lymph in tissue crevices.
Edema can occur for the following reasons:
To reduce swelling, you need to eat healthy and balanced. The diet should be rich in animal proteins and foods rich in potassium.
In case of severe swelling, you should minimize the use of:
All of them increase thirst and provoke increased swelling.
It is important to remember that even these drinks should not be consumed before bed.
Monitor the amount of salt you eat during the day. Its excess is extremely dangerous for heart failure - salt aggravates cardiac edema. Kidney swelling also increases if the kidneys are unable to remove excess salt from the body. Remember: there is a lot of salt in prepared foods - bread, cheese, sausages, canned food.
Diet for allergic edema and urticaria
To prevent an increase in edema, you should include vegetables, sea fish, eggs and various cereals in your menu. It is better to refrain from consuming cocoa, coffee, berries and chocolate.
In case of heart failure, it is necessary to create a menu of easily digestible dishes, for example, more often consume boiled potatoes, vegetable soups, cabbage salads, and borscht. After meals, drink 100 ml of milk.
The diet with such a diet must be varied with vegetables, dairy products and citrus fruits. But the consumption of salt and water is limited.
Diet for edema during pregnancy
During pregnancy, swelling almost always occurs. To reduce swelling, you need to exclude carbonated water, kvass, sweet concentrated juices and salty mineral water from your diet. It is also better to refrain from eating highly salted and fried foods.
If there is severe swelling of the legs, it is necessary to diversify the menu with dairy products, fruits (excluding grapes and bananas), vegetables and legumes. Soy milk and yoghurts (natural, without additives) will also be useful. You should not consume sugar, fatty desserts, smoked foods, mayonnaise and alcohol. For liquids, drink herbal teas and freshly squeezed juice more often.
First of all, you need to limit your salt intake - the daily dose should not exceed 3 grams . It is also better to exclude smoked, canned and fried foods, replacing them with fruits. The most useful for facial swelling are citrus fruits, watermelon, carrots and apples. You should have dinner no later than four hours before bedtime.
To get rid of bags under the eyes, you need to include soy dishes, oatmeal, rice, legumes and lean meat in your diet. Every day, eat a handful of seeds or nuts (if you are not allergic) and drink herbal infusions.
When using diuretics and adhering to diets that reduce swelling, you should be careful - poor nutrition, too little diet can lead to dehydration or disruption of the water-salt balance in the body.
The main rule of all diets is to reduce the amount of salt consumed. The maximum allowable is 1-1.5 g per day.
Every person, one way or another, faces edema , and this is especially true for women. Of course, swelling can appear due to injuries, bruises - locally, but most often we encounter this phenomenon when we are tired, sick or lack of sleep. Swelling can also be caused by poor diet, alcohol consumption and a generally unhealthy lifestyle.
The mechanism (so to speak) of the appearance of edema is not difficult to understand : lymphatic fluid accumulates in the tissues, and their volume increases. The accumulation of fluid, in turn, is caused by poor outflow of blood and lymph; low protein levels in the blood; increased permeability of the capillary walls and increased pressure in the capillaries themselves.
The occurrence of swelling often indicates the presence of a specific disease, but this can only be detected after a complete medical examination.
Most often, people are concerned about swelling of the legs - this swelling can be explained by many types of diseases. They occur in diseases of the kidneys and liver; heart failure, but most often they are associated with venous insufficiency. Typically, swelling of the legs occurs when working while standing or walking for a long time in heels, but can also occur during sedentary work.
Swelling under the eyes can also indicate diseased kidneys , but they also occur when drinking too much liquid or alcohol at night, or when you are very tired.
Swelling of the hands usually complements this picture, but they rarely occur separately. They usually appear together with other types of edema: with kidney disease, heart failure or pregnancy. Sometimes they can appear due to an uncomfortable position during sleep, or too much stress on the wrists.
Leg swelling can be treated at home, but you should consult your doctor before doing so.
You can make baths with dry mustard (1 tablespoon per liter of water), or with sea salt.
Another folk method: put thick fabric bags filled with fresh birch leaves on your feet and change them every 3-4 hours. Your feet will sweat a lot and swelling will decrease - this procedure is best done on weekends.
In the evening, before going to bed, you can do the following procedure: rub a mixture of camphor and olive oils, taken in equal quantities, into your feet - from the feet to the knees. Then each leg is wrapped in cotton cloth, with a woolen scarf on top, and left overnight. Perform for a month, every day.
Swelling of the legs goes away if you rub the problem areas with tincture of Kalanchoe pinnate . 15 g of fresh leaves of this plant are poured with 20 g of vodka or alcohol, left for 5 hours, filtered and rubbed into problem areas.
The problem of edema of local origin is often solved by intestinal lavage: toxins and stagnant fluids begin to be removed from the body. You need to prepare decoctions and drink them for a certain time.
A decoction of white radish helps against swelling . Boil 400 g of radish in a liter of water for 10 minutes, adding 1 tsp. salt. The broth is cooled and drunk like regular water or tea.
A decoction of flaxseed also relieves swelling of the legs . For 1 liter of water you need to take 4 tbsp. seeds, bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes over low heat. Then put the saucepan in a warm place for an hour. You don’t have to strain the infusion, and add lemon juice to it to taste. Drink according to? glasses 6-8 times a day, every 2 hours, preferably hot. After about 2-3 weeks, the swelling should go down.
Lemons also have a mild diuretic effect and can help with swelling of the legs . You need to dry the lemon zest, crush it and take it 3 times a day, for ? tsp half an hour before meals. Wash down with warm boiled water with 1 tbsp. honey
Salt lotions are a very effective remedy for swelling . It is necessary to dissolve rock (table) salt (1 kg) in a bucket of cold water, soak a terry towel in this water, wring it out and place it on the lower back. When the towel warms up, wet it again, wring it out and apply it - and so on up to 10 times. In this case, swelling subsides because strong urination begins.
Edema of cardiac origin is relieved with fresh cucumber juice. Should I drink it? glasses 2-3 times a day.
Swelling of the legs and arms recedes if you drink a mixture of juices : mix medium-sized lemon juice with freshly squeezed cucumber juice and carrot juice (1/2 cup each). Divide the resulting mixture into 3 parts and drink, diluting 1:1 with warm boiled water - 3 times a day.
of puffiness and swelling under the eyes using folk recipes.
You need to finely chop fresh parsley leaves and apply them to the area around the eyes, placing damp cotton pads or swabs on top.
You can make a mask from parsley and sour cream: mix 1 tsp. finely chopped greens with sour cream (2 tsp), and also apply to the eyelids and area under the eyes for half an hour.
You can make contrasting compresses from sage decoction. Should I fill it? cups boiling water 1 tsp. dry sage herb, leave for 10 minutes, strain and divide into 2 parts. Keep one part hot and cool the second - the infusion should be cold. It is necessary to alternate compresses by applying gauze pads soaked in cold water to the eyes, after about 10 minutes - in hot water, etc. Perform the procedure every day for a month, 30-40 minutes before bedtime.
You can also make compresses from a decoction of parsley, chamomile, and dill. 1 tbsp. The herbs should be brewed with a glass of boiling water, left for 15 minutes, strained, and warm lotions applied to the eyelids. It is better to do them in the morning and evening, and keep them for at least 10 minutes - every day, for a month.
To prepare chamomile compresses, you need to pour dry inflorescences into a cloth (for example, handkerchiefs), tie them, put them in a small saucepan and pour boiling water over them. Leave for 5-10 minutes. Applying these bags with inflorescences to the eyes helps even with inflamed and swollen eyelids.
If you apply compresses 2-3 times a week, they will prevent the appearance of wrinkles. Alternatively, you can use chamomile tea bags.
You can make lotions from an infusion of birch leaves. Fresh birch leaves (1 tablespoon) are poured with cold water (1 glass), left for 8 hours, filtered, and lotions are made by applying gauze napkins soaked in the infusion to the eyes.
Raw potatoes help with swelling of the face and eyes . Peeled raw potatoes must be grated and the juice squeezed out through cheesecloth. You can simply lubricate problem areas with the juice, or you can moisten a gauze pad in it and apply it to your entire face.
You can make a mask: mix the juice with wheat flour or oatmeal and apply it to your face for 15-20 minutes. Rinse off with chamomile infusion, cooled tea or just water.
To prepare a pumpkin mask, boil finely chopped pumpkin over low heat in a small amount of water, then grind until smooth, add honey (1/2 tsp) and stir. Place the mixture on a gauze napkin and apply warm to the face for 5-7 minutes.
Lotions made from rose petals and rose hips help relieve swelling around the eyes . Small gauze bags are filled with dried petals. Before making a compress, the bags are dipped in hot water for 2 minutes and applied to the eyes while warm. You can use dried parsley or dill instead of flower petals, but the smell of rose petals is also aromatherapy.
For swelling in the legs and arms, you can make compresses from potatoes and beets . You need to peel raw vegetables, grate them, mix and apply the pulp to the areas of swelling . Wrap the limbs in film, then wrap them with thick cloth and hold for 20 minutes.
Edema is relieved not only by external means, but also by taking folk diuretics.
Drink tea from birch leaves warm, 2-3 glasses a day, until the swelling disappears. To prepare it, crushed leaves (2 tsp) are poured with boiling water (250 ml), wrapped and left for 10 minutes.
For swelling of the legs, prepare and drink the following decoctions::
For edema of any origin, such folk remedies help very well:
Never drink diuretic pharmaceutical drugs - chemical tablets - during edema . They relieve swelling , but by flushing fluid from the blood vessels, and not from the tissues. As a result, the blood thickens and blood clots can form.
All the folk recipes given here will definitely help, but they will not replace full-fledged treatment. Moreover, only a doctor can make a diagnosis and identify the real cause of edema .
Failure in the functioning of blood vessels, heart or kidneys most often leads to surges in blood pressure. Why do the legs and face swell under pressure and what treatment is needed?
Edema is our body’s reaction to injury or inflammation. They appear when blood vessels become thin and the fluid they contain leaks into the tissue. As it accumulates, it causes the tissue to swell.
Swelling due to pressure is one of the main signs of a malfunction of the circulatory and vascular system.
Most often, in this case, doctors diagnose arterial hypertension. This can be either an independent pathology of “hypertension” or a consequence of the development of other chronic diseases (kidney disease, varicose veins, etc.)
To eliminate this unpleasant phenomenon, you need to know what causes it.
Here are the most common causes of fluid stagnation in the body:
Swelling with low blood pressure, although a rare occurrence, is also dangerous.
With hypotension, the kidneys cannot completely remove salt and water from the body; they are left in order to stabilize the pressure. But the very fact that the pressure is low indicates weak tone of the heart muscles, so this problem needs to be corrected.
Exercising is the best way to make the heart muscle stronger over time, which means your blood pressure will return to normal. Therefore, for hypotensive people, edema is not so bad.
Edema with high blood pressure can appear due to poor heart function, impaired renal function, poor diet and excess weight, due to anxiety, stress and emotional tension.
If the abdominal area swells, this may indicate problems with the liver, including cirrhosis. In heart failure, swelling may occur in the face or legs (especially in the lower part), this often happens in older people.
High blood pressure accompanied by edema is an important signal to visit a doctor and undergo a thorough diagnosis.
One way or another, each of us has to deal with swelling - local swelling due to injuries, bruises or bites; swelling as a result of an allergic reaction; swelling that appears during pregnancy, etc. Most often, internal organs (brain, heart or lungs) swell.
When a person has heart problems and the functioning of the whole body is disrupted, various unpleasant symptoms may appear, such as headaches, shortness of breath or swelling of the legs and face. So, with hypertension, these are the most common symptoms that cannot be ignored so as not to trigger the disease and prevent a heart attack.
Doctors note that hypertension has been ranked first among the most common diseases for many decades. This disease is the result of a violation of intravascular pressure, failures of which can lead to complications of the heart, kidneys, liver and even the brain. For this reason, this disease is considered one of the most dangerous, the advanced form of which can cause death.
Symptoms of hypertension can be varied:
There are also infrequent cases, for example, deterioration of vision, “spots” and spots in front of the eyes, and impaired coordination of movement.
Legs often swell due to pressure! This symptom may be accompanied by pain that occurs during walking (especially long-term walking), increased fatigue, and a feeling of heaviness in the lower extremities. In this case, aching pain in the lower extremities is often observed.
If the disease has not yet progressed, then you can get rid of the unpleasant symptom by raising your legs high. However, when the disease has already progressed sufficiently, swelling is difficult to eliminate even with drug treatment.
Facial swelling with high blood pressure appears when kidney function is impaired. This is very noticeable on the eyes: in the morning you can see pronounced “bags” under the eyes, which go away on their own after a few hours. Often in such cases, patients experience increased protein in the urine.
If the disease is neglected, the swelling on the face will not go away on its own during the day.
Swelling of the lungs indicates an advanced stage of the disease, when due to a sharp increase in blood pressure, the activity of the left ventricle of the heart is disrupted. Fluid begins to accumulate in the lungs and along with this symptom, breathing may be impaired, and wheezing will be heard periodically. At this point, you need to immediately call an ambulance. Before the specialists arrive, you can take a nitroglycerin tablet, ventilate the room well so that you can breathe easier, and lie down with a cushion (for example, a rolled up towel) under your back.
All of these symptoms indicate a violation of the blood supply, which is fraught with complications in the future. If you do not undergo examination and do not start treatment, then the occurrence of a heart attack, stroke or heart failure is inevitable.
It is better to entrust the treatment of swelling due to pressure to a good specialist, who, based on the diagnostic results, will prescribe the most effective treatment.
In order to eliminate swelling, it is necessary, first of all, to monitor your diet and follow a suitable diet for hypertension (table No. 10 is suitable), minimize the consumption of salt and spicy foods.
Food should not be high in calories. You don’t need to drink a lot of water; it is also important to take diuretics (diuretics) to improve the removal of excess fluid from the body.
It is imperative to normalize blood pressure with the help of medication and folk remedies.
Medicines should be prescribed by the attending physician, based on the course of the disease and the individual characteristics of the body. You cannot self-medicate.
If the swelling is not too pronounced, it is often recommended to drink rosehip infusion, take Furosemide, Taurine, Hypothiazide, Torsemide, Warfarin (this drug is recommended to avoid the appearance of blood clots).
Treatment of edema can be surgical or conservative (excluding surgical intervention).
To eliminate this symptom at home at the initial stage of the disease, it is enough to follow some recommendations:
Traditional methods of treatment help well if the disease is not yet in an advanced form.
In this case, you can resort to the following methods:
If we talk about drug treatment of edema, diuretics are usually prescribed to help remove excess fluid. These can be thiazide drugs (Indapamide, Dichlorothiazide, Navidrex) or loop drugs (Diuver, Lasix). Only a doctor should prescribe the appropriate medicine and should take it in accordance with his recommendations.
If your legs swell during pregnancy, this is usually due to increased stress on the spine and pelvic area. In this case, you cannot use medications; it is best to purchase special compression garments (stockings, knee socks). It will help stabilize swelling.
But it is better to consult a specialist to find out the exact cause and get the appropriate treatment.
To prevent swelling, you need to monitor your diet and your own weight, do not drink a lot of water, avoid excessive physical activity, and reduce the amount of salt in your diet.
Meals should include porridge (oatmeal, buckwheat), fermented milk products, vegetables and fruits (especially boiled or baked), lean fish and meat.
You should not eat canned food, spicy or fried foods; salads should not be dressed with mayonnaise, but with a small amount of olive oil. Seasonings containing salt should also be excluded. Physical activity should be moderate: morning exercises are welcome. Of course, you shouldn’t forget about being outdoors.
Important to remember! Swelling with high blood pressure is a reason to consult a doctor.
If you listen to the recommendations and take action in time, the disease can be cured and there will be no complications. In order not to start the disease, it is important to undergo a thorough examination.
Only by following all recommendations and regularly taking prescribed medications can swelling be eliminated and blood pressure normalized.
Summer has arrived and the problem of swelling of the lower extremities becomes relevant again. What is this connected with?
This is undoubtedly due to increased sweating. A huge amount of potassium and magnesium leaves the body through sweat, which leads to additional fluid retention in the body.
All edema can be divided according to the degree of development:
There are several ways to detect swelling in the legs:
If after physical activity constant swelling of the legs appears, the lower limbs swell to large sizes - all this leads to serious consequences.
What does traditional medicine offer to relieve swelling?
Folk advice and recommendations are aimed at quickly relieving the symptoms of swelling, normalizing metabolism, and improving the functioning of the cardiovascular system, liver and kidneys. One of the goals is to remove excess fluid from the body.
Diuretics are prescribed only for severe swelling, and even then not for long. You cannot take this remedy on your own!
Despite the fact that edema most often occurs in the second half of pregnancy, already in the 1st trimester a pregnant girl, especially if she is at risk for edema (women with hypertension, kidney pathology, endocrine diseases), it is advisable to slightly reconsider her diet . food swelling
It would also be good to give up all spicy and smoked foods - they cause a feeling of thirst.
If you suspect fluid retention, you need to calculate how much fluid you drink per day (you should take into account the soup and fruit you eat) and how much you excrete in the urine. food swelling
• eat dried apricots and raisins more often - they contain very important micro-cements: cadium, calcium and magnesium.
• reduce the amount of salt - it is better to add various greens to your food. It contains so many mineral salts, especially sodium and potassium.
• drink up to 1-1.2 liters of fluid per day and try not to exceed this amount.
• in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, doctors already recommend that all mothers salt their dishes to a minimum - salt should be consumed no more than 5 g per day, as it causes increased thirst, and excessive drinking can lead to stagnation of fluid in the body.
• as in the 2nd trimester, do not drink more than 1 liter of liquid per day, and a couple of weeks or even a month before giving birth, when the likelihood of edema is greatest, you need to drink even less - only 700-800 ml per day.
• instead of the usual coffee and tea, drink milk and fermented milk drinks such as yogurt, kefir.
• if swelling does appear, do not forget to include in your diet products that have a diuretic effect: rose hip decoction, diluted beet juice, parsley and blackberry juice, lettuce, figs, walnuts, chokeberry.
Cranberry or lingonberry juice or juice
They also drive water out with water. They forced us to eat watermelon. This helped!
But it's not time for watermelons yet... And lie down with your legs higher than the wall. This is generally good for everyone.
- anti-edema gel (eg AVENT);
- cool water (feet in a basin for 20 minutes, and then raised above head level);
— foot massage (rub well with a washcloth);
- kidney tea and other herbal teas only on the recommendation of a doctor;
- drink a glass of hot milk at night, one day a week on apples and juice and try brewing dried apricots at night, and first thing in the morning drink water from it and for the next 30-40 minutes do not eat or drink anything;
- regular tea with lemon without sugar or just water with a slice of lemon;
- take off your wedding ring and don’t wear it again until the birth;
-Diuretic tablets should not be used. Maybe something will help you too.