Every evening, your legs “buzz” and swell? How many people who face this problem every day! Of course, most often it bothers those who have to stand or walk a lot, but office workers who lead a “sedentary” lifestyle can also bother leg swelling. We will discuss the causes and treatment of this condition in this article, hoping that the information will be useful.
Why there are swelling on the legs
Edema is usually a fairly harmless consequence of a person’s prolonged upright position.
Long trips and flights that involve the same pose over time can lead to swelling (most often in such cases they appear on the ankles or feet). This also includes the wearing of high heels. The fact is that both blood and lymph to a large extent help to freely move in the opposite direction of the contraction of the calf muscles, but this does not happen in the above situations.
With an increase in body weight, circulatory disorders or varicose veins, it is also often possible to observe how the legs swell below. The causes of such phenomena are no longer harmless physiological processes, but signals of existing health problems.
Causes of edema (injury)
If the blood plasma for some reason falls outside the walls of the blood vessels, this causes the formation of edema. In particular, often the causes of leg swelling in men and women are injuries to the limbs.
In normal situations, edema decreases and disappears as the injured areas recover. But in the case when soft tissues are damaged, which are necessary for free lymph flow or blood flow in the veins of the lower extremities, the patient may develop a chronic type of swelling on the damaged leg.
Incidentally, the injuries themselves and their treatment increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis, as well as venous insufficiency.
Edema with impaired venous outflow
In addition to fatigue and injuries, there are other causes of swelling on the legs. And the most common, unfortunately, is varicose veins.
Edema in these cases progresses slowly. At the beginning of the development of the disease, it is generally subtle. By morning or after a long rest, as a rule, the swelling disappears, and appears again only in the evening. Over time, it becomes permanent, and the skin changes color, and sores may appear on it. By the way, edema with varicose veins is mostly asymmetric, as they are located on one leg.
Another cause of this problem may be deep vein thrombosis. In this case, edema appears both on one and on both legs and lasts from several hours to several days. With thrombophlebitis, an increase in temperature, redness and pain around the vein also join the edema.
Other causes of leg swelling
If the legs swell below, the reasons may lie in other pathological processes that occur in the body.
- Heart disease, such as heart failure. Edema with it is symmetrical, their size with the course of the disease increases and even covers the hips. They are joined over time by shortness of breath and fatigue.
- Renal pathology. Edema appears on both legs from the back of the foot. As additional symptoms, dark circles appear under the eyes, the eyelids swell and the color of the urine changes.
- Impaired lymphatic flow. Swelling on one or both legs, soft and painless to the touch.
- Thyroid disease. Edema is elastic, swelling of the tongue, intestinal dysfunction, drowsiness join them.
As you can see, the causes and types of swelling are very diverse and quite serious. So if your edema has become a constant phenomenon, increasing in size and accompanied by other alarming symptoms, be sure to consult a doctor! Do not try to deal with the problem yourself - you will lose time.
Why legs swell and how to treat it
Probably, there is no need to clarify that the treatment of leg edema should begin with an examination of the body and the establishment of the disease that caused this phenomenon. His treatment will be the main way to combat edema.
As an additional therapy, diuretics can be used that will reduce the amount of fluid in the body. By the way, fruit drinks from lingonberries or cranberries, watermelons and herbal decoctions have a good diuretic effect, which will be described later.
In addition, patients, regardless of the cause of swelling in the legs, are advised to reduce the amount of salt and spicy seasonings that cause fluid retention.
A few recipes for swelling legs
In folk medicine, considerable experience has been gained in using natural remedies to relieve swelling. Some of them simply eliminate a very unpleasant symptom in which the legs swell below (the reasons for this phenomenon were already discussed in the article) after physical exertion, while others normalize the water-salt metabolism.
So, for example, if your legs are tired and swollen, then warm foot baths made of chamomile, horsetail and sage flowers will come to your aid. The mixture (100 g) is poured with hot water (1 l), boiled over low heat for 15 minutes and then insisted for 45 minutes. The filtered broth is diluted with 3 l of water.
Legs burning with fatigue will bring the foot bath to a normal state, in which an infusion of black elderberry flowers will be added. You can grind them with a mixture of a glass of olive oil and a teaspoon of salt, which is stirred in oil until completely dissolved. In this case, the juice of one lemon mixed with the same volume of vegetable oil is also successfully used.
But remember that with thrombophlebitis you can’t soar and massage your legs!
How to relieve swelling with venous insufficiency, heart disease
If you have thrombophlebitis or varicose veins, folk doctors advise making warm baths for the legs to the knees, adding a mixture of willow and oak roots (calculated at 50 g per 10 liters of water).
From the pain and swelling that is inevitable with thrombophlebitis, a mummy is found to be very useful, which is added to a mixture of milk and honey (in a ratio of 20: 1) and taken orally in a tablespoon twice a day, for 25 days. After 10 days off, the course is repeated if desired.
If the reason for the swelling of the legs, the main reasons are cardiovascular failure, it is useful to take as a diuretic a collection of birch leaves (take 50 g), fruits of cinnamon rose hips (about 25 g) and the root of the stalnik field (about 25 g ) An infusion is prepared from this collection. Two tablespoons of this mixture are poured with a glass of boiling water and put for 15 minutes in hot water, where they cool for 45 minutes. After which all components are squeezed out, the infusion is filtered and adjusted to a volume of 200 ml with boiled water. Take it should be a quarter cup 3 r. in a day.
Pumpkin is also good in such cases, since its flesh enhances the removal of chlorine salts from the body and, without irritating the kidneys, increases diuresis.
What can be done to prevent the appearance of edema
Unfortunately, the methods for preventing the appearance of puffiness on the legs are very commonplace, nothing new and magical has yet been invented. But, despite the fact that these tips are regularly repeated, for some reason they do not like to follow them. Although, it would seem that it could be simpler - not to abuse salt, avoid overfatigue of the feet and choose comfortable shoes that do not have high heels (they can be used only “on the way out”) or a completely flat sole. In the evenings, do a light foot massage and place a roller or pillow under the ankles to help outflow of fluid in the lower extremities.
But, probably, a person is designed in such a way that he doesn’t look for easy ways: smoking, alcohol (it enhances fluid retention in tissues), excess weight, which puts strain on the legs and the cardiovascular system - of course, they swell from all this in the evening legs down. In this case, the reasons are not taken into account and, as a result, lead to sad consequences, with which the patient begins a selfless struggle! Maybe you shouldn't go that far?