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A combination of airplane travel (which has occasionally caused this complication before), and reduced hormone levels have conspired to make my feet and ankles puffy and swollen. (Potential other complicating factors: alcoholic beverage Monday evening; far more walking in two days (Sun and Mon) than I usually do.)
They were slightly swollen Monday night, which seemed odd (and not a good sign); but back to normal Tuesday morning. While they improved somewhat last night, they have been mildly uncomfortable all day (intermittent mild tingles, and the occasional twinge), and are still swollen now, almost 20 hours after my flight. (Although definitely less so than last night, or even than this morning, I think.)
The sites I found all say that flight-induced edema is not a cause for worry if it resolves quickly. Ok, but how long is "quickly"? How do I know (given none of the potential worrisome other symptoms the references I found mentioned) if this is simply a mild annoyance or something to worry about?
Also, other than loose shoes and trying to keep my feet moving, what can I do to speed up the de-edemization process? Do I try to drink more fluid or less? Will cold or heat help/hurt? I found a mention of aspirin, but I don't keep it around. Will Advil help? Could it hurt?
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I <3 my mommy. She's bringing me milk and aspirin. (No, the milk has nothing to do with this. )
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There are lots of causes of peripheral edema. The more worrisome ones include heart failure, kidney failure, liver damage, cancer, poor nutrition. One-sided leg edema can be from a DVT, a blood clot, which are more likely to occur when a person is less active, such as traveling on an airplane.
In your case I'll just assume it is related to your flight, being on your feet more, possibly to more salt in your diet or other factors related to your trip. What happens is the fluid doesn't move back up the veins and back to the heart as easily when your legs dangle for long periods of time. Best thing you can do is to put your legs up. They have to be at the level of your heart or higher. Just up a little bit won't do much. Support hose can help. Cut down on salt for a few days. It should resolve. In the mornings, if you keep your feet higher than your heart overnight, you should see improvement. I don't know anything else that helps except diuretics. Advil and aspirin can actually CAUSE edema, if taken frequently enough. Walking and keeping the legs moving is much better than standing still, the muscles will help to move the fluid up the body. The more you sit and let your legs dangle the more edema/less improvement you can get. I certainly don't suggest drinking more fluids. If it doesn't start to improve in a couple days, probably should check with your doctor.
posted
My hands and feet swell when I run lately, and get back to normal maybe an hour later. Is that a symptom I should worry about or look into? I did a GXT a few months ago and passed with flying colors.
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As a long time traveler I have to side with Theca's words of caution. It happened to me a few times. The most common things preceding the events were - a bit more drinking the night before than one should and the subsequent attempts the following day to satisfy a huge thirst. The headache probably caused me to be much less active.
Three days was the longest I recall being uncomfortable from the affects. I almost always have some small affect on extended flights (Indonesia comes to mind first - darn hard place to get to in less than 30 hours).
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Theca, might it be a side effect of diabetes? My understanding is that fluid is leaking out of the capillaries into the tissues of the extremeties to cause this. I know my theories are probably about as well-informed as those of most moderately-knowledgable users of the machinery I design and install, i.e. not so very.
I'm just picturing the heart maybe doing a fine job of pumping the blood out there but perhaps minor circulatory damage in the extremeties from the diabetes may be why some fluid would leak out during times of high flow rate of blood. Is the pressure going to be higher when you're running (the pump jacks up the pressure in order to increase flow?) or lower (higher velocity of flow equals lower pressure a la Bernoulli's law?) Actually the pump speeds up flow mainly by increasing the frequency of pump-strokes, I guess, rather than jacking up the pressure. Is that right? I'm thinking of this as a hydraulic system so in fact our terminology- and concept- overlap may be minimal. <laughs>
Anyway, my diagnosis is minor circulatory damage to capillaries in the extremeties due to diabetes. No way to reverse it. Take ace inhibitors faithfully and keep blood sugar in tight control to prevent it getting worse. You concur, doctor?
[ August 19, 2004, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: ak ]
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Actually, ak, in your case I have no idea. Except that when people get hot the blood flow does rise more to the surface of the skin so as to cool off the blood and therefore the body better. I'm not sure how that would cause the temporary swelling, tho. I'm kind of busy, but if I think of some reasons or decide to agree with your theory (I'm not sure yet) then I'll post again.
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Not that this has much to do with the subject at hand, but whenever I see the emoticon "<3", my first thought is that the writer is mooning someone, rather than expressing love for them.
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One of my professor-doctors mentioned anecdotally that you can reduce edema in a child by putting them in a bath. The added external pressure reduces edema, presumably.
Was he pulling our legs, or have you heard of this?
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Oh but mac, the body is a very cool machine, and diagnosing and fixing little bugs in a machine in order to fine tune it and get it running optimally is just a joy. I guess it's an engineering geek thing. Taking good care of all your machinery so that it hums along well with no problems.
Anyway, it's just fascinating to try and understand these things. It's a really good thing for moms to have, too. The ability to be first-line first aid and decide if someone needs a doctor or not. So the more knowledge the better.
One tiny thing I asked about a while back I have an answer for in case CT or Theca is interested. I have a really smart opthamologist now and asked him about that hard-edged dark spot in my left eye that's persisted for decades. He looked at it and it is indeed a big old floater, close to the retina (so less blurry in image). They can remain attached on one end and persist for decades, he said. Pretty cool, huh?
[ August 19, 2004, 04:31 PM: Message edited by: ak ]
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quote: One of my professor-doctors mentioned anecdotally that you can reduce edema in a child by putting them in a bath. The added external pressure reduces edema, presumably.
D'oh! I was just reading about that in Honey, Mud, Maggots, and Other Medical Marvels!
The edema is about 90-95% gone, but I'll try a soak later. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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rivka, I'm glad you're almost better. That book sounds very gross and interesting.
I get swelling in my hands and feet from hormones and extreme heat and humidity. It's a pain, but it did give me a great excuse to buy more shoes (I can't very well go barefoot when my feet swell, can I?). I find that a cold shower helps.
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quote: That book sounds very gross and interesting.
It totally is! It's fascinating. Each chapter looks at the historical and cultural uses of a specific type of treatment (or class of treatments); and then at the studies that look at how effective it actually is; and then current uses. It is great! (But yeah, really gross. )
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Be careful with diuretics, as they can severely deplete your potassium and send you to the hospital or kill you if it gets too bad and your heart fails.
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Elizabeth, I don't know for sure, but quite possibly. And excess may have other side effects as well. Most minerals have both minimum and maximum amounts you should take.
My feet are still tired, but the puffiness is all gone. Thanks, Theca and everyone else with suggestions! Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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She's bringing me milk and aspirin. (No, the milk has nothing to do with this. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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