Diagnosis: lymphostasis of the lower extremities. Treatment with folk remedies, medicines, massages

Swelling of the legs is a fairly common occurrence for most people, especially in the evenings after a long working day. Often in the morning they pass, but if this phenomenon repeats every day, it can indicate a problem with the veins, and in the future lead to varicose veins or thrombophlebitis. If swelling does not go away in the morning, most likely your diagnosis is lymphostasis of the lower extremities. The treatment of this disease is recommended to be started as early as possible, while the lymphatic system copes with its tasks at least partially.

Causes and symptoms of the three stages of lymphostasis

Lymphostasis is a disease that occurs in women 5 times more often than in men. Why is this happening, doctors can’t answer unambiguously, but now the main reasons for its occurrence have been identified:

1. Diseases of various organs and systems.
2. Changes in veins or lymph vessels.
3. Low protein content.
4. The presence in the body of microorganisms, for example, streptococci.
5. Congenital malformation of the lymphatic system.

Lymphostasis has several stages of development, each of them has its own symptoms:

1. Lymphedema (reversible edema) affects the ankle, fingers and foot. In this case, edema is palpated, even visible visually, but is not accompanied by pain. The skin in this area becomes pale, slightly flabby, forms a crease. After resting, the edema disappears or decreases significantly.
2. Fibredema (irreversible edema) extends to almost the entire limb, accompanied by pain, heaviness, and sometimes seizures. After pressing in the area of ​​the edema, a trace in the form of a dent remains for a long time, and it does not pass even after rest.
3. Elephantiasis is an extensive proliferation of subcutaneous tissue and connective tissue, which leads to an incredible increase in the limb. The name of the stage comes from the similarity of the limb of a sick person with the foot of an elephant. The stage is accompanied by pain, inflammation and ulcers of the skin.

Diagnosis and determination of the stages of lymphostasis

How to further deal with swelling in the extremities depends on the correctness of the diagnosis. If phlebologists or lymphologists have established that there is lymphostasis of the lower extremities, treatment with folk remedies, medicines and massages should be started without delay. How is the diagnosis made? An integrated approach includes:

• visual inspection;
• biochemical analysis of urine and blood;
• duplex vein scan ;
• Ultrasound of blood vessels and tissues;
• lymphography.

Only after diagnosis and determination of the severity of the disease can treatment be undertaken.

Medication for lymphostasis

So, your diagnosis is lymphostasis of the lower extremities. Treatment with folk remedies is not in your rules? In this case, you will be prescribed medication, and only according to an individual schedule - depending on the characteristics of the body, stage of the disease, possible individual intolerance to the drugs. Basically, the following drugs are prescribed for treatment:

1. Phlebotonics to improve microcirculation and outflow of lymph.
2. Enzymotherapy drugs that relieve inflammation and swelling.
3. Diuretics are diuretics.
4. Antibacterial agents.

Most often, these drugs are used comprehensively and only with prolonged use are lymphostasis of the lower extremities effectively treated.

Treatment with folk remedies

At the initial stage of lymphostasis, folk remedies will be quite effective. For example, a compress of onion and tar has worked well. To prepare the mixture, one onion is baked (it does not need to be cleaned first), it is cooled, peeled and crushed. To this porridge you need to add a tablespoon of tar and mix everything thoroughly. Apply the resulting product evenly on the tissue and wrap it in a sore spot, then fix it and leave it overnight. If you have lymphostasis of the lower extremities, treatment with folk remedies may include decoctions, infusions and mixtures taken orally:

1. 
   An infusion of 250 g of chopped garlic and 350 ml of honey is prepared for a week, and taken three times a day before meals.
2. A decoction of plantain, dandelion leaves and immortelle color helps. All components are taken in equal proportions, poured with boiling water (0.5 l) and infused for 5-7 hours. You need to take a decoction for half a glass of 4 r. in a day.
3. Apple vinegar and honey (1 tsp each), diluted in a glass of water, will greatly facilitate the patient’s condition.

Massage treatment

Massage with lymphostasis of the lower extremities is one of the ways to improve the patient's condition. This is not about home self-massage, but about professional procedures that are effective only in the first two stages. The massage is aimed at activating the outflow of lymph and vascular contraction. This leads to a significant decrease in limb volume. In medicine, hardware massage (pneumocompression) and manual lymphatic drainage are used. The procedure ends with bandaging - bandaging using an elastic bandage.