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Swelling of the legs – the phenomenon is not so rare. There are many reasons why swelling may appear in the lower extremities. This is the first sign of heart failure, or there are problems with the thyroid gland. But besides this, edema can be triggered by excessive fluid intake, kidney problems, pregnancy, vascular problems, fatigue in the legs, and, of course, heat. We will talk about the last reason – the heat.
Why do feet swell in hot weather?
To understand how high air temperature can affect the condition of the legs, let’s recall the anatomical structure of a person. All tissues of the human body are supplied with oxygen through blood circulation. Blood enters the lower extremities due to the increased work of the heart, and blood returns back due to the special structure of the veins of the legs: there are valves in the veins that push blood to the heart. This is called peripheral circulation. When the air temperature becomes high, the circulatory system begins to work in a mode that does not allow the body to overheat.
Overheating of the legs is not allowed due to the ability of blood vessels to expand. But the expanded veins cannot fully carry out the outflow of blood. This causes swelling of the legs.
In addition, sweating always increases in the heat, and along with sweat, the salts that the veins need leave the body. After all, it is salts that are able to “pull” blood out of the tissues, and therefore, the lack of a sufficient amount of salts leads to swelling of the legs.
Danger of swelling in hot weather
According to many medical experts, swelling in the heat is a natural phenomenon to some extent. After all, edema of the lower extremities, which appeared precisely from high air temperature, does not require the intervention of doctors, and disappears on its own. But, nevertheless, you can not ignore the swelling of the legs in the heat. After all, their presence indicates a violation of water-salt metabolism in the body, as well as disorders in blood circulation. It happens that there is more swelling on one leg than on the other. This is due to problems with the veins on the leg where the edema has a larger volume. Do not sound the alarm. But if the swelling does not go away after a series of measures taken – massages, compresses, long rest – you should seek help from a specialist. You may need to consult such specialists as a nephrologist, cardiologist, urologist.
What to do to avoid swelling
With the onset of a hot summer, people suffering from swelling of the legs in the heat begin to worry about questions: how to make your life comfortable at this time and, if possible, avoid the appearance of edema. As a preventive measure, you can do the following:
At the end of a hot day, you need to lie down with your legs up, remaining in this position for at least 15 minutes
Twice a day – in the morning and in the evening – you should take a contrast shower; special attention should be paid to the legs. It is a contrast shower that can improve blood circulation and harden blood vessels.
Completely exclude salty, spicy, smoked foods from your diet during the hot period; it increases thirst and does not allow fluid to be excreted from the body in a timely manner
It is necessary to establish a drinking regime; drink at least three liters of water on a hot day; natural juices, fruit drinks, compotes are allowed. Excluded drinks such as lemonade, soda. This will improve the electrolyte balance in your body.
The ideal way to avoid the appearance of edema is water aerobics in sea water; it does not put pressure on the veins, and they do not dilate.
Get rid of swollen feet without drugs
Before you come to the decision to relieve swelling with medication, you should try to deal with this problem in gentle ways. You can do the following exercises:
Press your heel to the floor, and try to raise your toes as high as possible. You can perform the exercise both from a standing position and from a lying position. A few minutes are enough and you will feel relief in your legs.
Tiptoe for a couple of minutes
Put a pencil on the floor and try to grab it with your toes.
Spread your toes as far as you can
Rotate your feet in both directions alternately.
Medicines for swelling of the legs in the heat
If it was not possible to remove the swelling of the legs by all available methods, except for medicinal ones, it becomes necessary to use traditional medicine. There are many ointments and gels that are great for leg swelling, but before using them, check with your doctor. After all, the legs can swell not only because of the heat, but also because of serious diseases of the heart, kidneys or liver. And the fact that edema appeared in the heat may be a mere coincidence. The main thing is to know the exact cause so that the treatment is effective, and does not worsen the situation.
Gels and ointments offered by pharmacies mainly contain rutin and heparin. Among the many names, the following can be distinguished:
Troxevasin
Essaven-gel
Heparin ointment
Lyoton-gel
In addition to the analgesic effect, they have a cooling effect, which improves blood circulation, eliminates microclots, strengthens blood vessels, and even treats inflammation. But not always edema can be dealt with with ointments and gels. They usually produce a temporary effect.
Alternative methods of treating edema
In the arsenal of traditional medicine, there are many ways to treat leg edema that appear in hot weather. But before using them, you need to get the approval of a doctor to make sure that there are no contraindications to the use of such methods of treatment. Traditional medicine offers us:
Baths with different composition, for example:
sea salt
salt
needle extract
dry mustard
Diuretics. They help to remove all excess fluid from the body, but it is the excess, without dehydrating the body.
Rubbing. You can rub with the prepared mixture: chop one head of garlic, pour it with a glass of water and let it brew for an hour. Strain the resulting infusion, and rub the edema with the resulting mixture.
Massage is one of the most effective methods. It is made, as a rule, with ice cubes from decoctions of herbs.
When edema appears in the legs during the heat, one should not hope that everything will go away on its own. Help your body gently get rid of swelling of the legs by choosing from all the proposed methods the most suitable for you.