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Edema Conditions and Treatments to Stop Swelling
Leg Vein Conditions – Edema
Edema is swelling in parts of your body when fluid gets trapped in your tissues. Edema in legs is most common, along with ankle edema and edema in feet. It can also affect your face, hands and abdomen.
Limb edema refers to edema legs and feet or arms and hands.
There are many causes of edema. Some include medication, pregnancy or an underlying disease, such as congestive heart failure, kidney or liver disease.
Mild cases of edema usually go away on their own. But edema pain or discomfort is not uncommon depending on how much swelling there is and its location. For example, foot edema may make walking painful because of the extra pressure.
Edema Causes
You can experience edema when blood vessels leak fluid that build up in surrounding tissue and causing the tissue to swell.
Mild cases of edema swelling may result from:
- Staying in one position for too long
- Consuming too much salt
- Pregnancy
- Premenstrual symptoms
Edema may be a side effect of some medications, including:
- Some diabetic medication like thiazolidinediones
- Hormone replace therapy
- High blood pressure medications
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
- Steroids
Edema Symptoms
The main symptom of edema is swelling in your body which happens when a buildup of fluid in your tissues causes that area to expand.
People experience edema in different locations, most commonly we treat people with leg swelling, or swelling in your feet or ankles.
Symptoms of edema swelling include:
- A part of your body is larger than it was previously.
- Your skin on the affected area is stretched and shiny.
- Difficulty walking, especially if the edema is in the legs, ankles or feet.
- Felling a tightness, heaviness or fullness in the affected body part
- Edema pain or an achy feeling in the affected area.
- Skin that keeps an indent after being pressed down on for a few seconds.
Some medical conditions can cause edema.
- Congestive heart failure (CHF) occurs when your heart’s lower chambers can’t pump blood effectively, leading to a backup of fluid in your legs, ankles, and feet. CHF is a major cause of uncontrollable edema in the legs, edema in the ankles and edema in the feet.
- Liver damage, often called cirrhosis of the liver, causes fluid to potentially build up in your abdomen and legs, causing edema in legs.
- Kidney disease can cause edema in legs from an increase in fluid retention.
- Veins have one-way valves that can become weak or damaged. If this damage happens in the leg veins, it will cause blood to pool in the lower limbs. This can lead to varicose veins, where edema in the lower leg and edema in the calf can be present.
- Lymphedema can occur if there are issues with lymph nodes and lymph vessels draining fluid in your body. If the system is damaged, the lymph nodes and vessels draining an area may not work correctly, causing a buildup.
- Other conditions such as compromised immune system, severe allergic reactions, infections, burns, trauma or blood clots can also cause lower limb edema.
Edema Treatment
You can take some simple steps to keep fluid from building up as part of your treatment for swelling in legs and feet or your ankles. It is always recommended to discuss even these simple steps with your Chiropodist or Primary health care provider.
- Elevate your legs when you’re sitting or lying down. You can put a pillow under them to keep them up.
- Taking frequent breaks if sitting or standing in the same spot for a long period of time.
- Compression therapy
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Compression Stockings
LMC Specialists often recommend compression stockings as a treatment to help prevent edema from recurring or getting worse. Compression stockings are particularly helpful for:
- Treatment for leg edema
- Treatment for foot edema
- Treatment for ankle edema
- Felling a tightness, heaviness or fullness in the legs, ankles or feet
- Pain or an achy feeling in the legs, ankles or feet
Compression stockings have graduated compression whereby the highest amount of compression strength is at the foot and gradually lessens the higher up on the leg the compression stocking goes. This way blood and fluids are returned/pushed from the lower leg to the heart. It’s very different than an ankle wrap that has the same amount of pressure throughout.
Our legs are less swollen at night due to our bodies being in an ideal horizontal position, allowing for blood to flow back to the heart while sleeping. By putting compression stockings on first thing in the morning, we prevent blood and fluids from having the opportunity to pool in our lower limbs.
Why Choose LMC
We are part of one of Canada’s largest teams of Medical Specialists and treat the most complex foot conditions, such as diabetic wounds, daily. It makes simple cases such as heel pain (plantar fasciitis) and edema in legs easily handled by our experts.
Trail Blazers
LMC Healthcare has one of the largest research divisions in North America, Centricity Research. Our Chiropodists (Footcare Specialists) have the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge foot health research and new treatment approaches.
Members of the Approved Provider Network (APN)
LMC Healthcare is one of a handful of the most skilled and trusted footcare providers included in the APN. It allows us to be exclusive providers for various hospitals and insurance companies in Ontario.
Collaborative and Convenient Approach
While a referral is not required to see our Chiropodists, we keep your family physician informed every step of the way with assessment and treatment summaries.
You also never have to wait long for an appointment! We have eight easily accessible locations in Ontario. Brampton, Vaughan, Oakville, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Midtown Toronto, Barrie, Ottawa, with more coming soon.
Contact Us About Your Foot or Heel Pain
Book an Appointment | LMC Healthcare
Helping you understand and ease your foot or heel pain
Helping you understand and ease your foot or heel pain
Do you have questions about your leg health? Call us today to find out how our specialists can help!
Phone: 1-844-562-3668
Email us to set up an appointment and find out how our specialists can help improve your leg health!
Easily book an appointment online with one of our specialists today to help with your leg health needs
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