Swollen feet, sometimes called edema, is a condition where the muscles in the feet have an excessive buildup of fluid. Gravity pulls the fluid to your ankles and feet.
Swelling can be a symptom of a serious underlying problem, be it a sports injury, pregnancy, heart disease, fluid retention, kidney problems or another condition. If your feet swell chronically, is accompanied by shortness of breath or weight gain, see your doctor.
Slight swelling of the lower legs commonly occurs in warm summer months. Slight swelling is more likely to occur if a person has been standing or walking a lot.
Traditional treatment might include any or all of these suggestions:
Elevate your feet and legs. Place a pillow under your heels, and prop your feet on a chair or high stool. Use a leg wedge to elevate while sleeping.
Dip your feet into a tub of cold water or sit on the side of the bath with your feet under a cold-water tap. After this put your feet up for a while.
Reduce your salt intake. Salt causes you to retain water.
Do not abuse laxatives.
Take diuretics if prescribed by your doctor. Diuretics increase urination by pulling excess fluid out of your cellular tissues.
Practice good health habits. Proper nutrition and daily exercise improve the health of your cardiovascular system and your circulation, helping to reduce the tendency of your feet to swell.
Wear support socks or stockings and well fitting shoes.
Category: Swollen Feet
Usually swollen feet don’t indicate a problem, but it can signal pre-eclampsia. If the swelling appears abruptly or if you notice that you are also getting swelling in your hands at the same time, call your health-care provider immediately! Pre-eclampsia is a type of pregnancy-related high blood pressure than can be very dangerous.
Feet are particularly vulnerable to swelling during pregnancy because you have more blood and other fluids circulating in your body — as much as six to eight extra quarts. Women tend to notice slight swelling throughout pregnancy, but especially during the third trimester.
Your feet will grow a half size to a full size during the nine months that you are pregnant Many pregnant women’s feet grow right along with the baby. Even though the fluid-related swelling will disappear within a few days of delivering your baby, some women find that their feet are as much as a size larger following a pregnancy. For that you can blame the hormone relaxin. Relaxin helps loosen your pelvic joints in preparation for your baby’s journey down the birth canal.
Tips for reducing swelling include:
• Lie on your left side. This reduces pressure on major blood vessels to the heart and kidneys.
• Rest lying flat on the floor. Put your feet up to a 45 degree angle.
• Take a luke-warm to cool bath. Water pressure puts more fluid back into your blood vessels.
• Wear tighter, thick stocking socks.
• Wear a well fitting, strong arch support shoe to support the extra weight your carrying.
Foot care is really important but it is one part our bodies that we neglect too often. The skin is very delicate and we need to take good care of it if it is going to look good. Since the feet carry the weight of your entire body all day we need to be “aware and take care”. These tips can make a big difference:
• Keep hard, dry skin off your feet using a pumice stone. Soak your feet in hot water for about 5 minutes to soften the skin and help easily remove it. Use lotion or cream generously to help remove the dead skin. Then rinse off the residue.
• After removing the dry skin, soak your feet again for about 10 minutes in warm water. Add some mineral salts or palm sea salts, along with a few drops of scented oils that will relieve the aches and reduce the swelling.
• Dry your feet well, especially between your toes.
• Trim your toenails, cutting straight across the tip and shape gently with an emery board.
• Use a rich foot skin cream and massage in well. Cup your hands on either side of your foot and with your thumbs firmly press the upper part of your foot while pushing your thumbs outwards.
• Wait a while before wearing your shoes.
Did you know that about one in five people with diabetes enters the hospital for foot problems? In fact, many people with diabetes have mild to severe nerve damage. This can cause diminished feeling in the feet. As a result, you may not feel cuts, scratches, and breaks in the skin on your feet. These wounds can lead to unnoticed infection.
There are several specific problems that you should be aware of as a diabetic:
• Poor circulation can make your feet less able to fight infection and to heal.
• Calluses occur more often and build up faster on the feet diabetics. If not trimmed they can get very thick, break down, and turn into ulcers (open sores).
• Diabetic nerve damage (neuropathy) also can lessen your ability to feel pain, heat, and cold. Loss of feeling may mean that you might not feel a foot injury.
• Foot ulcers occur most often over the ball of the foot or on the bottom of the big toe. Ulcers on the sides of the foot are usually due to poorly fitting shoes. Neglecting an ulcer can result in infections, which in turn can lead to loss of a limb.
If the above problems are not cared for, amputation of the foot or leg may result.
Be sure to talk to your doctor if you notice any of these symptoms:
• Changes in the color of the skin on your feet
• Changes in skin temperature
• Pain in the legs, either at rest or while walking
• Swelling of the foot or ankle
• Open sores that are slow to heal
• Ingrown or fungus-infected toenails
• Corns or calluses that bleed within the skin
• Cracks in the skin, especially around the heel
Check your feet every day. Inspect the top, sides, soles, heels, and between the toes.
Offensive odor can be caused by bacteria on your skin and clothing. Soaking your feet in antibacterial soap several times a day for a week, followed by washing well with the soap daily may help.
Before putting on your socks and shoes, apply a foot powder. It is also important to keep your feet dry during the day.
In a more scientific explanation, sweaty feet (hyperhydrosis) and smelly feet (bromohydrosis) are conditions of the feet. While some cases of excessive smelling or sweating of the feet are systemic (throughout the whole body) in nature, such as anemia (low blood count) or hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), these conditions are usually of a local cause. There are many foot care products available in your local pharmacy or grocery store.
“To minimize foot problems, just wear high heels for special occasions.” We have probably heard that before.
You love shoes. Shopping for them, trying them on and — most of all — buying them. Most professional women use high heels as part of their image. But what if your feet don’t feel so good, and they look even worse? Forced too often into the tight confines of the narrow toe box of your high heels, your toes bend into an unnatural positions. As a result, bumps and areas of thickened skin rub painfully against your shoes.
Are your beloved high heels the source of your foot problems? Yes, they probably are. High heels are one of the biggest factors leading to foot problems in women. The other is age. Frequently wearing high heels can set the stage for many common foot problems including blisters, calluses, corns, foot odor, hammer heel and others.
So, bottom line, wear them occasionally but consider other options for everyday.
The next time you’re shoe shopping, keep these tips in mind:
Choose sensible heels, an inch and a half or less, with a wide heel base. Narrow, stiletto-type heels don’t give good support.
Recheck your shoe size occasionally, they can get longer and wider as you age.
Don’t rely on shoe size alone, try them on.
Compare the width of the shoe with the width of your foot. Stand next to the shoe in your bare feet. Which is wider — your foot or the shoe? Avoid shoes that are too narrow for your feet, no matter how much you like them.
Try on both shoes for comfort. Fit the larger of your two feet, many people have slight differences between their feet.
Make sure you have at least a finger’s width between your longest toe and the end of your shoe.
Fit the shoes to your feet late in the afternoon or in the evening because your feet may swell up as the day goes on.
Shoes should feel comfortable from the beginning. They are not going to fit better after you have worn them.
Select materials that breathe and allow flexibility, such as leather or nylon mesh.
Stay away from shoes with seams across the toe box, which can rub.
People who have a history of cardiovascular disease, stroke or thrombotic episodes (blood clots) are at risk of getting blood clots in their legs (especially between the ankle and upper calf) during extended airplane flights. Developing DVT after a long plane ride is called “economy-class syndrome”. Seating and leg room are particularly cramped for passengers in economy class, thus the name.
DVT is potentially life-threatening. In it, blood clots form in the body’s deep veins, particularly veins in the legs. Sometimes the clot breaks off, travels through the bloodstream before anyone knows that is happening, and obstructs a vessel in the lungs, restricting blood flow. This condition is called pulmonary embolism. This damages tissues and causes poor lung function, which can be fatal. It is very difficult to diagnose by external examination. Symptoms, if they occur, might include muscle tension in the lower leg, a dull ache or sudden painful tear, or a cramp in the calf with swelling and elevated body temperature.
If the clot remains lodged in the legs, very serious damage may occur to the vein, or even to the leg’s entire venous system. Clots can cause tissue damage, skin lesions, ulceration, and possibly removal of the limb. Once you have had one episode, you will have a much higher chance of a repeat event.
Studies in healthy people have shown that wearing “compression stockings” may help minimize the risk of developing DVT after long flights. These stockings put pressure on leg muscles and help return blood flow from the legs to the heart.
Drinking extra water, walking up and down the isles and avoiding alcohol intake are also good advice and just common sense.
Erythromelalgia, or EM, is a rare disorder that can occur at any age and affects both genders. The cause of EM is usually unknown but sometimes is secondary to other medical conditions including autoimmune, neurologic or blood disorders. Lupus, polycythemia vera and multiple sclerosis are examples. Some people with EM have other family members with the disease. Recently, an EM gene was identified as were several mutations to this gene. Apparently each affected family carries a different mutation.
Symptoms of EM include hands or feet that are very red to purple in color, are perhaps swollen, hot to the touch, and have burning pain. The intensity of the symptoms varies from person to person. Some notice a continual burning pain while others are troubled with “flare-ups” or episodes lasting from minutes to days in length.
Warm temperatures seem to be the most frequent trigger for EM episodes. Flare-ups are provoked by heat and exercise, and symptoms are relieved by cooling and elevating the affected extremities. Others have found that foods, spices like MSG, beverages (particularly alcohol) and some drugs can make EM symptoms worse.