Home Remedies For Causes and Treatment Of Swollen Feet, Legs and Ankles.

Swelling is something that can occur from a number of different reasons. If it’s left untreated, swelling can become extremely painful and be very annoying. Different parts of your body may become swollen because of an injury or something as simple as wearing something that is too tight. Pregnant women tend to get swollen as well as people suffering from certain medical conditions. Whatever the cause of your swelling, there are some easy ways to treat it that will help you feel better in no time.

Treating General Swelling

1. Cut Down Your Sodium Intake

As delicious as salt may be to some people, it does have a tendency to cause swelling in the body when you overdo it. If you’re experiencing some general swelling and just so happen to be one of those people that loves salt, it is in your best interest to cut down on your sodium intake immediately.

This includes all foods that contain extra sodium, and if you’re prone to reading your food labels you know this is a lot! Processed foods are also ridiculously full of sodium and cutting them out of your diet is highly recommended. You should also stop adding salt to everything you eat. You don’t need it, your taste buds have just become accustomed to it, and with time your cravings for extra sodium will diminish.

The average person should only be consuming 2000mg of sodium daily at the most, but many of us get much, much more than this. If you’re one of them, and prone to swelling, this just might very well be the reason why. Cut down your intake and drink more water and you should see a reduction in your swelling after no time at all.

2. Soak in an Epsom Salt Bath

An Epsom salt bath will not only feel amazing, but will take away swelling as well. Epsom salt is a tried and true remedy to help with swelling caused by tired and overworked muscles. It is the magnesium in the Epsom salts that helps to reduce swelling, which is something that helps to combat inflammation. Adding Epsom salts to a hot bath is one of the oldest, easiest, and most relaxing ways you can reduce general swelling in your body.

To reduce swelling you may want to soak your entire body in a nice, hot Epsom salt bath. Fill your bathtub with warm to hot water and add two cups of Epsom salts. Stir it up to help it dissolve and take the next 20 minutes all to yourself. Soak in the tub as you normally would and you should see swelling greatly reduced when you get out.

If you don’t have a tub at home, you can still reap the benefits from an Epsom salt soak. To do this, warm up a gallon of water on the stove and add a cup of Epsom salts. Stir them to dissolve and soak a towel in the hot water/Epsom salt mixture. Ring out any excess water and wrap this towel around the swollen area on your body. This method is another that works extremely well and is recommended if you don’t have a tub to soak in.

3. Try Tonic Water

Drinking tonic water isn’t going to reduce your swelling, but if you soaking the swollen area of your body in it could do wonders. The bubbles and quinine content in tonic water work to reduce swelling. Pour some tonic water into a bowl or tub and simply soak the swollen area of your body for 15-20 minutes. Do this once a day and your swelling should go diminish.

4. Adjust Your Clothing

Sometimes swelling is caused by clothes that fit too tight. Are you someone who wears nylons or stockings to work every day? If so, you may notice that your legs or feet are becoming swollen and uncomfortable. Clothes that fit too tightly anywhere on the body can lead to swelling as well. It is very important to wear loose fitting clothing, especially if there’s an area on your body that has become swollen. If you wear clothes that are too tight when you’re already swollen, you are just going to make matters worse. Blood flow restriction to somewhere that is already swollen can seriously complicate matters and make your swelling much more painful and serious. Adjust your clothing to fit loosely around the swollen area of your body and take precaution when wearing pantyhose or stockings.

5. Take a Magnesium Supplement

If you’re suffering from general swelling having a magnesium deficiency has the potential to make things a lot worse. If you believe that your swelling is getting worse try taking a magnesium supplement. Taking 250mg of magnesium a day is a good start to reducing swelling and feeling better.

6. Get a Massage

While swelling generally doesn’t feel good, massaging the affected area certainly does. Not only does a massage feel amazing, but it can help greatly with your swelling. Gently massaging the swollen area of your body will help increase blood flow and reduce swelling. A professional massage is always recommended, but if you can’t make it to the masseuse you can still reap the benefits of a massage at home. Self-massage is very popular and an efficient way to reduce swelling. When you massage the swollen area yourself, make sure to focus the movement pushing upwards rather than downwards, and use grapefruit seed oil to help quicken up the reduction in your swelling. Massage is a great way to reduce swelling as well as an excellent way to relax.

7. Try Some Low-Impact Exercise

Exercise may seem counteractive to reduce swelling, but it is actually very good for general cases of swelling, especially if you’ve been refraining from movement for an extended period of time. Participating in some low-impact exercise will help out, as will getting up and moving around periodically throughout the day. Don’t push the limits of your body however. Too much exercise can strain the swollen area even more and should be avoided, especially in cases of injury.

Treating Swelling Caused By Injury

Anyone who’s had an injury knows that swelling is a natural reaction to stressed bones and muscles. Whether you’re suffering from a sprained ankle or a broken wrist, you’re going to be swollen and it’s going to be uncomfortable. It’s important to treat swelling caused by injury with tender care as not to further complicate your already complicated injury. Trying some of the following will help to greatly treat swelling when its caused by an unseen injury.

1. Apply a Cold Compress

Ice and cold packs are awesome to reduce swelling caused by injury. Using a cold compress on the swollen area will help reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation. This is a highly recommended remedy to reduce swelling that is caused by injury and has helped countless people through the years. There are a few different ways to apply a cold compress to a swollen area and any can be used depending on what works the best for you.

• Ice Towel
Using an ice towel that you can wrap around the swollen area of your body is a great idea and will considerably reduce the swelling you’re experiencing. To use this method, wet a towel with cold water and ring it out so it is just damp. Next, place the wet towel in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the towel from the bag and either wrap it or place it on the area that is causing you pain. Keep it on until it has thawed out.

• Ice Pack
Another really easy way to apply a cold compress is by the use of an ice pack. You can either buy an icepack from the store or make your own at home with about a pound of ice and a Ziploc bag. Put the ice in the bag and add just enough water until you’ve covered all the ice. Seal the bag, wrap in a thin towel, and place over the swollen area.

• Cold Pack
You can easily make a cold pack from items you already have in your freezer. Frozen peas or corn both work great and can be easily molded to fit your body. A frozen pack of these vegetables is a great way to treat swelling and they’ll last for about 15 minutes before they need to be refrozen.

You can also make a slushy cold pack that you can use again and again by mixing water and rubbing alcohol together and freezing it. To make your own cold pack, take 3 cups of water and 1 cup of alcohol and put both into a plastic freezer bag that seals. Place this sealed bag in the freezer until it forms a slushy consistency, then place on the swollen area of your body. You can refreeze this when the slush melts to reuse. This is an excellent alternative to cold packs that can be purchased at the store.

2. Elevate the Affected Area

One of the best things you can do for an injury that has become swollen is to elevate the affected area as much as possible. When you are sitting or lying down, take as many pillows as you can and prop up the affected area so it is elevated above your heart. Elevating an injury is the best way to prevent blood from collecting in the area that is swollen and will help get this area the circulation it needs.

If it is part of your arm that is swollen due to injury, you should think about investing in a sling to give it proper time to heal. Doing so will keep blood from settling in this area, which will ultimately just cause more pain and discomfort. If it’s your leg, foot, or ankle that is swollen, you should make it a big point to stay off your feet as much as possible and elevate the swollen part of your body as much as possible. If the swelling is super severe, you will want to elevate it for a few hours at a time. The longer you keep it elevated, the more quickly your swelling will subside.

3. Give Your Body Time to Rest

While this should go without saying, in order to treat swelling you must give your body time to rest. In our fast-paced culture taking a time out is next to impossible, but if you’ve got swelling due to an injury you really need to take a break. The only way the affected area is going to get any better is if you take the time to rest it. There’s a reason it’s swollen and adding pressure to it won’t help in the slightest.

If you’ve done something to hurt your foot or leg and you have some swelling going on, consider staying off of it for at least 2-3 days. If you must get up, getting crutches is an excellent idea and will help immensely to keep pressure off the swollen area. The longer you rest, the sooner you will heal.

4. Take an Anti-Inflammatory

When all else fails, you may want to look into taking an anti-inflammatory. These medications that can be purchased over the counter help to reduce the pain and swelling associated with an injury. Ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and naproxen are all very common anti-inflammatory medications that are non-habit forming and will help to reduce the swelling from your injury. If you’re not custom to taking medication, you may want to check with your physician to see what the right choice of medicine for you would be. Some people have reactions to different pain medications and it is best to be smart before taking them in order to avoid any further complications.

Do You Need To Seek Medical Attention?

While swelling isn’t generally something to be too concerned about, there are times that it can become dangerous to your health, or even life-threatening. If you’ve got unexplained swelling, it could very well be caused by an underlying medical condition.

Edema

There is a condition known as edema, which is when swelling is caused by a build-up of fluids within the body. While edema may be limited to certain parts of the body such as the legs and ankles, it can also spread over larger areas. Different types of edema include:
• Pulmonary Edema: Accumulation of fluid in the lungs
• Peripheral Edema: Swelling of the feet, legs, and ankles
• Periorbital Edema: Swelling of the eyes
• Massive Edema (Anasarca): Swelling covering a large part of the body.

There are a variety of medical conditions that can cause edema, including kidney, liver, and heart disease. Different diseases that affect these organs may cause the kidneys to retain water and salt. These are two of the major elements of edema fluid. This excess fluid ends up leaking out into other parts of the body and gets into surrounding tissues causing them to swell.

If you’ve suffered from heart failure, pulmonary edema is a very real complication that may come along with it. If heart failure isn’t treated properly, it will usually result in pulmonary edema. This life-threatening condition should be treated immediately by a professional. If not, pulmonary edema has the possibility to become fatal. If you’ve had heart failure that was less severe, you may notice swelling in the feet and ankles, and should definitely seek medical attention.

If you’ve got varicose veins, they may end up leading to peripheral edema. There are tiny valves in the leg veins that help the body to move blood from the feet and lower legs back to the heart. As people age, or are often on their feet, these valves become weaker and blood ends up pooling in the lower legs. The pressure from this blood can leak into the surrounding tissue and cause the legs and ankles to swell.

Edema becomes more common as people age, and if you’ve got unexplained swelling it is best to talk to a medical professional. Your swelling could be the sign of a much more serious condition, and it is very important that you seek professional medical advice.

Swelling during Pregnancy

While swelling of the feet and ankles is pretty normal during pregnancy, it can sometimes be the sign of more serious problems. When you’re pregnant, especially after the 20th week, swelling of the hands, feet, and ankles is pretty much a common occurrence. There are times however when swelling can get out of control and in these instances seeing your doctor is the best thing you can do for the health of you and your baby.

If you notice more swelling in one leg than the other that is accompanied by pain, this could be the sign of a blood clot. If you’ve got swelling and also a headache that just won’t seem to go away, along with vision changes, this could be a sign of preeclampsia, which is pregnancy specific high blood pressure. Swelling with chest pains or difficulty breathing could mean you’re experiencing heart trouble. Seeing a doctor right away is very important if you’ve got these symptoms, as you don’t want to risk the health of you or your baby.

Swelling Caused by Medications

As we all know, certain medications come with a host of side-effects. Swelling is one of the more common symptoms associated when you take certain medications. If you are taking medication for diabetes or high-blood pressure, you may notice some swelling. While some swelling is a normal side-effect, if you notice that your swelling gets worse or does not go away, you may want to seek medical attention. This could be a sign of an allergy, in which case you will want to stop taking your medication right away.

Swelling of the Abdomen and Liver Failure

Cirrhosis of the liver is a scarring of the liver than may happen from a number of different reasons. Improper diet and excessive alcohol and drug abuse can contribute to this condition that obstructs blood flow through the liver. In cirrhosis of the liver, one will see a pronounced swelling of the abdomen or the lower legs. This is a life-threatening condition that may cause liver failure if not treated.

If you experience any of the following symptoms along with swelling, your best bet is to call a medical professional immediately as it may be the sign of something much more serious.
• Fever
• Shortness of Breath
• Chest Pain
• If Swollen Body Part is Warm to the Touch
• If You’re Pregnant and Swelling Suddenly Increases

While most cases of swelling are nothing to be concerned about, there are more serious cases of swelling that will require strict medical attention. If you’ve broken or fractured a bone, you’ll obviously want to go to the doctor however, it you’ve just sprained something and are experiencing swelling you can probably take care of it right at home.

Knowing how to correctly treat swelling will save you a lot of pain and anguish. Swelling can be taken care of easily and effectively when you use any of the treatments outlined above. In cases where swelling isn’t life threatening, it should go away quite easily on its own if you take good care of your body.

Remember that elevation and ice are two of your best friends when it comes to swelling and staying off your feet and getting the rest you need is vital if you wish to speed up the healing process. If not taken care of correctly, swelling may cause further problems down the road. Don’t ignore your body when it comes to swelling, as it is one of the first lines of defense in something else going on within your system.

Treating swelling is easy, and you will feel much better when you take the time to pay special attention to it. Getting your swelling to reduce can be the biggest relief you’ve ever felt and is something you will surely thank yourself for. Don’t let swelling get the best of you and take care of it quickly with any of these easy to use methods to get your body back to normal.