Swelling of the legs is a rather uncomfortable phenomenon that does not look too aesthetically pleasing. In addition to external shortcomings, such a condition entails other problems. So, the state of the cardiovascular system worsens, the load on the heart increases.
Many people think that edema occurs due to excessive water consumption, but the reasons are most often not at all so harmless.
Why do legs swell?
The problem arises due to flat feet or stagnation of lymph, impaired metabolism or varicose veins, kidney disease or excessive load on the lower limbs. To understand what to do if your legs are swollen, you need to figure out the cause of this condition. Sometimes these are the wrong shoes. Too high or completely absent heel, wrong size or squeezed toes in a non-physiological position instantly lead to swelling.
"Cardiac" edema of the legs most often occurs in the ankle zone. Sometimes this is the first sign of heart failure, in a young person it can signal a problem with blood vessels, and in an elderly person - about a chronic heart disease. With a predisposition to varicose veins, do not wear stockings. They disrupt blood circulation by squeezing the hips. It is better to choose special compression tights. Sometimes swelling is due to the expectation of a child. For many, these phenomena are already interconnected: pregnancy - legs swell. What to do in such situations?
How to ease your situation? Let's try to figure it out.
What to do if the legs are swollen?
Drinking less fluid after seven in the evening is recommended. To alleviate the condition will help the bath with sea salt. You can just try to lower your feet in cold water, and then massage the swollen areas with light tingling.
Learn a simple set of exercises to relax your legs. Place one foot on the other, raising the toe as high as possible, and then change the foot. After that, stand on your toes, wait a few seconds. Jump on tiptoe a bit. Sit and raise your legs, make circular movements with your feet. Just bend your fingers up and down. Gymnastics is very simple, and edema prevents quite effectively. Along with this, the heaviness in the legs passes .
Popular methods for resolving the problem
Thinking about what to do if your legs are swollen, you should pay attention to medicinal decoctions and other folk remedies. For example, decoctions of berries and elderberry bark help to remove excess fluid. They stabilize the condition of the kidneys. In the presence of varicose nodes on the legs, steamed elderberry leaves can be applied to the skin. A good diuretic effect is distinguished by birch buds, field horsetail. For example, you can make medicinal tea. Mix a couple of tablespoons of knotweed, birch buds and horsetail. Brew a teaspoon in a glass of boiling water in a water bath, insist for half an hour. Drink, strain, one tablespoon each. The course for three weeks should take place according to the following plan: three days of drinking the infusion, one day of a break.
What to do if the legs are swollen due to cardiovascular disease? Try astragalus. Its broth strengthens the heart and reduces puffiness. Just take ten grams of dried astragalus and brew. A few tablespoons a couple of times a day, and the swelling will begin to go away.
You can help yourself in the fight against this problem with ointments that strengthen the capillaries. For example, "Troxevasin" and "Heparin" preparations, as well as horse chestnut products, which, as a rule, are very effective, are suitable.