Symptoms
Edema occurs when tiny blood vessels in your body (capillaries) leak fluid. The fluid builds up in surrounding tissues, leading to swelling. Mild cases of edema may result from: Edema can also be a side effect of some medications, including:
Causes
EDEMA: Edematous arm caused by subclavian vein stenosis. A local or generalized condition in which body tissues contain an excessive amount of tissue fluid in the interstitial spaces.
Complications
Edema usually affects the lower half of the body, which carries the entire body weight. While the lower legs, feet, and ankles tend to be the most affected, edema can also appear in other parts of the body, such as the face, hands, and stomach. Edema can affect anyone, but it is more common in pregnant women and older adults.
What causes edema?
What causes edematous arm?
What part of the body is affected by edema?
How serious is edema?
Most of the time, the edema is not a serious illness, but it may be a sign for one. Here are some examples: Venous insufficiency can cause edema in the feet and ankles, because the veins are having trouble transporting enough blood all the way to the feet and back to the heart.
How is edematous treated?
Treatment of edema includes several components: treatment of the underlying cause (if possible), reducing the amount of salt (sodium) in your diet, and, in many cases, use of a medication called a diuretic to eliminate excess fluid. Using compression stockings and elevating the legs may also be recommended.
What problems cause edema?
Medications, pregnancy, infections, and many other medical problems can cause edema. Edema happens when your small blood vessels leak fluid into nearby tissues. That extra fluid builds up, which makes the tissue swell. It can happen almost anywhere in the body.
What causes edema in legs?
You can have swelling due to fluid buildup simply from being overweight, being inactive, sitting or standing for a long time, or wearing tight stockings or jeans. Factors related to fluid buildup include: Acute kidney failure. Cardiomyopathy (problem with the heart muscle)
Does edema go away?
Mild edema usually goes away on its own, particularly if you help things along by raising the affected limb higher than your heart. More-severe edema may be treated with drugs that help your body expel excess fluid in the form of urine (diuretics).
How long does it take edema to go away?
Swelling normally lasts for a few days. In the first two days, you will experience the most swelling, and it should start to reduce by the third day. Following treatment from your healthcare provider reduces the amount of swelling you might experience.
What are the two types of edema?
Three Common Types of EdemaAcute Edema – Is the swelling that usually occurs within 24 hours of an injury. ... Chronic Venous Insufficiency – Veins are the blood vessels that return the blood to your heart. ... Lymphedema – Lymphedema is a protein-rich swelling caused by an obstruction of the lymphatic system.
How do you treat edema naturally?
Epsom salt can do wonders in eliminating edema. Salt is an effective treatment for swelling of the legs because it draws out toxins from your body and helps with relaxation. To do a salt bath, dissolve a cup of Epsom salt in the bathtub of lukewarm water. Then, soak your legs in the water for at least 20 minutes.
What does edematous mean in medical terms?
Swelling caused by excess fluid in body tissues.
Will drinking more water help with edema?
Although prescription medications and creams can treat edema, it is essential to drink enough water. When your body is not hydrated enough, it holds onto the fluid it already has to make up for the lack of incoming water, thus contributing to swelling.
What cancers cause edema?
Some types of cancer, like kidney, liver, and ovarian cancers, are more likely to cause edema. Chemotherapy. Some types of chemotherapy, including cisplatin and docetaxel (Taxotere), can cause edema.
What doctor treats edema?
If you experience swelling that does not go away on its own, make an appointment to see your primary doctor. If the issue doesn't improve, ask your doctor for a referral to a vascular specialist.
How do you drain edema naturally?
Remedies for water retention can include the following.Follow a low salt diet.Eat potassium- and magnesium-rich foods. They will help balance out your sodium levels. ... Take a vitamin B6 supplement.Eat protein. ... Keep your feet elevated. ... Wear compression socks or leggings. ... Seek a doctor's help if your problem persists.
What does edematous mean in medical terms?
Swelling caused by excess fluid in body tissues.
Will drinking more water help with edema?
Although prescription medications and creams can treat edema, it is essential to drink enough water. When your body is not hydrated enough, it holds onto the fluid it already has to make up for the lack of incoming water, thus contributing to swelling.
What is edema in feet?
Overview. Edema, called dropsy long ago, is swelling caused by fluid retention. This condition usually occurs in your feet, legs, or ankles. However, it can also occur in your hands, your face, or any other part of the body. Treatment varies depending on the cause.
How to prevent edema?
To prevent edema, stay as physically active as you’re able, avoid excess sodium in your diet, and follow your doctor’s orders regarding any conditions that cause edema. Last medically reviewed on September 19, 2019.
How to treat edema in legs?
It’s important that your doctor identify the cause of your edema so that it can be treated properly. Temporary edema can often be improved by reducing your salt intake and keeping your legs up when sitting.
What is the condition called when you have a lot of salt in your legs?
Depending on the location, any surgery that involves removal of lymph nodes can result in edema. This form of edema is known as lymphedema . A poor diet, especially one containing too much salt, can cause mild edema.
How to treat varicose veins?
Avoid tobacco and alcohol. Wear support stockings. Try acupuncture or massage. Use grape seed extract, which may lower blood pressure and help alleviate edema related to varicose veins and poor vein function. Before trying grape seed extract, make sure you speak with your doctor to see if it’s safe for you.
What does it mean when your lungs are filled with fluid?
The latter may be a sign of pulmonary edema, a serious medical condition in which the lung cavities fill with fluid.
How to get rid of edema?
Here are a few other things you can try to ease edema: Eat a wide variety of healthy foods, avoiding packaged and processed foods that are high in salt. Get a moderate amount of exercise, which can help prevent swelling due to inactivity. Avoid tobacco and alcohol.
How to tell if you have edema?
Signs that you might have edema include the following: The affected area is swollen. The skin over the swollen area might look stretched and shiny. Pushing in gently on the swollen area with your finger for at least 5 seconds and then removing your finger will leave a dimple in the skin.
What causes swelling in the body?
Edema. Edema is swelling that is caused by fluid trapped in your body’s tissues. Causes include diseases, medications and allergies. Treatment involves lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise. Overview.
Why does water get pulled down into my legs?
Water naturally gets pulled down into your legs and feet. Edema can happen from a weakening in the valves of the veins in the legs (a condition called venous insufficiency). This problem makes it hard ...
How to keep your legs elevated?
Put a pillow under your legs when you are lying down or sitting for prolonged periods. (Keep your legs elevated above the level of your heart.)
What is the best way to get rid of fluid in your body?
Follow your doctor’s directions for taking prescription medications. Your doctor might want you to take a diuretic (commonly called a "water pill"), which helps your body get rid of excess fluid. Protect any swollen areas from additional pressure, injury, and extreme temperatures.
What to wear to keep fluids from collecting in legs?
Wear support stockings, which put pressure on your legs and keep fluids from collecting in your legs and ankles. These stockings can be purchased at most drugstores.
What do doctors do when you have edema?
Your doctor will ask you questions, conduct a full exam, and might order tests to determine why you have edema.
What causes edema in the lower leg?
Dependent edema, edema in your legs and lower body caused by gravity and your body’s positioning. Scrotal lymphedema, the enlargement of your scrotum caused by a buildup of fluid around your testes. Lipedema, a disorder of your fatty tissue that causes swelling in your legs and hips.
Where does edema occur?
Although edema can affect numerous parts of your body, it most commonly occurs in your legs or feet. The main types of edema are. Cerebral edema, excess fluid in your brain. Angioedema, swelling in the deeper layers of your skin that can occur on your face, hands, and feet.
What is edema?
Edema is swelling caused by extra fluid that gets trapped inside of your body’s tissues. It has multiple causes, ranging from prolonged periods of sitting to congestive heart failure.
What causes swelling in the legs and arms?
Edema is swelling caused by extra fluid that gets trapped inside of your body’s tissues. Formerly known as dropsy, this swelling is typically most noticeable in your hands, arms, legs, ankles, and feet, but it can occur in any part of your body. Edema has multiple causes, ranging from prolonged periods of sitting to congestive heart failure.
What causes fluid in the eye?
Hereditary angioedema, a rare genetic condition that causes your capillaries to release fluid into your tissues. Papilledema, swelling of your optic nerve (the nerve that connects your eye to your brain) Macular edema, swelling of a certain part of your eye (the macula) Dependent edema, edema in your legs and lower body caused by gravity ...
How to reduce edema?
To lessen the symptoms of edema, you can take medication to remove the excess fluid and lower the amount of salt in your blood. Several home remedies can help with the symptoms of edema. However, if edema is a sign of an underlying disease, you’ll need to seek separate treatment for the disease itself.
What causes edema in the third trimester of pregnancy?
Edema can also be caused by a more serious condition called preeclampsia, which affects around 5% of pregnancies and occurs in the third trimester of pregnancy.
What Causes Edema?
In short, the cause of edema as simply defined as possible, is that tiny blood vessels in the body (capillaries) leak fluid into the surrounding tissues. This excess fluid causes the tissues to swell.
How to treat edema?
The ultimate goal with edema treatment is to rid the excess fluid that has accumulated in the surrounding tissues in the body . The most common treatment is a diuretic. Diuretics make the kidneys excrete excess fluid from the body; which reduces the general fluid volume in the body. Diuretics should be used with caution as dehydration can be a side effect. There are many different types of diuretics that have different mechanisms of action and different potencies.
What Should I Know About Edema?
Picture of an Edema on the foot by SPL/Science. The location of edema can provide the health care practitioner the first clues in regard to the underlying cause of the fluid accumulation.
What Is the Medical Treatment for Edema?
Once again, the treatment depends on the condition causing edema. In general, the treating principle is to reverse the forces that are not working properly:
What Home Remedies Treat and Help Relieve Edema?
Compression stockings can be helpful by increasing the resistance to fluid leaking out of the vessels. These can be purchased in any medical supply store, and are particularly useful for peripheral edema.
How Can Edema Be Prevented?
Prevention of further episodes of edema can be achieved by the treatments mentioned above.
What is the term for the accumulation of fluid in certain tissues?
Edema ( or Oedema) is the abnormal accumulation of fluid in certain tissues within the body. The accumulation of fluid may be under the skin - usually in dependent areas such as the legs (peripheral edema, or ankle edema), or it may accumulate in the lungs ( pulmonary edema ).
Why does my edema not subside?
If your swelling fails to subside despite proper rest and preliminary care or if you develop severe symptoms such as shortness of breath, your edema may be stemming from an underlying health condition. In such cases, the swelling and other symptoms will not resolve until the root cause is adequately treated.
Where does edema appear?
While the lower legs, feet, and ankles tend to be the most affected, edema can also appear in other parts of the body, such as the face, hands, and stomach. Edema can affect anyone, but it is more common in pregnant women and older adults.
What is the term for the accumulation of fluid into the interstitial space?
Edema is the accumulation of fluid into the interstitial space, which occurs when capillary filtration exceeds lymphatic drainage. When the regulatory mechanism is disrupted, fluid accumulates from the intravascular space to the interstitial space. Both hydrostatic and oncotic pressures are responsible for maintaining the integrity ...
What is edema in the interstitial space?
What Is Edema and How to Treat It? Edema is the accumulation of fluid into the interstitial space, which occurs when capillary filtration exceeds lymphatic drainage. When the regulatory mechanism is disrupted, fluid accumulates from the intravascular space to the interstitial space. Both hydrostatic and oncotic pressures are responsible ...
What is pitting edema?
Pitting edema is present when applying pressure to the swelling with a finger leads to an indentation, or a “pit,” in the skin. The depth and time required for the indentation to resolve are used to grade the degree of pitting edema.
How to diagnose edema in the lungs?
Edema in the lungs is typically diagnosed through imaging tests such as a chest X-ray or CT scan , but the suspicion for the same can originate from a physical exam.
How long does edema last?
There are two major categories of edema – acute and chronic edema. Acute edema typically lasts for less than 72 hours, whereas chronic edema is more long term.
What causes swelling in the legs?
Leg swelling caused by the retention of fluid in leg tissues is known as peripheral edema. It can be caused by a problem with the venous circulation system, the lymphatic system or the kidneys.
Why do my legs swell?
Leg swelling can also be caused by inflammation in leg joints or tissues — either a normal response to injury or disease or due to rheumatoid arthritis or another inflammatory disorder. You'll usually feel pain with inflammatory disorders.
What medications cause fluid buildup?
Factors related to fluid buildup include: Pain relievers, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) or naproxen (Aleve) Prescription medications, including some used for diabetes and high blood pressure. Venous insufficiency, chronic (leg veins with a problem returning blood to the heart)
Why is pulmonary edema so hard to breathe?
Overview. Pulmonary edema is a condition caused by excess fluid in the lungs. This fluid collects in the numerous air sacs in the lungs, making it difficult to breathe. In most cases, heart problems cause pulmonary edema. But fluid can collect in the lungs for other reasons, including pneumonia, exposure to certain toxins and medications, ...
What are the symptoms of pulmonary edema?
Sudden (acute) pulmonary edema signs and symptoms. Difficulty breathing (dyspnea) or extreme shortness of breath that worsens with activity or when lying down. A feeling of suffocating or drowning that worsens when lying down. A cough that produces frothy sputum that may be tinged with blood.
What is cardiogenic pulmonary edema?
Cardiogenic pulmonary edema is caused by increased pressures in the heart.
How long does it take for pulmonary edema to heal?
With treatment, most people with this type of pulmonary edema recover in about 24 hours.
Why does fluid build up in the lungs?
Most often, the fluid buildup in the lungs is due to a heart condition. If pulmonary edema is not heart related, it's called noncardiogenic pulmonary edema. Sometimes, pulmonary edema can be caused by both a heart problem and a non-heart problem.
What causes fluid to leak from the blood vessels to the lung tissues?
High-altitude pulmonary edema. In normal lungs, air sacs (alveoli) take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide. In high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), it's theorized that vessels in the lungs constrict, causing increased pressure. This causes fluid to leak from the blood vessels to the lung tissues and eventually into the air sacs.
How high can you travel to get pulmonary edema?
People who travel to high-altitude locations above 8,000 feet (about 2,400 meters) are more likely to develop high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). It usually affects those who do not first become acclimated to the elevation (which can take from a few days to a week or so).
What is edema caused by?
Edema caused by a local collection of pus.
Why is my edema red and tender?
Edema associated with inflammation. The cause is assumed to be damage to the capillary endothelium. It is usually nonpitting and localized, red, tender, and warm.
What is the best treatment for pulmonary edema?
Assisted ventilation (continuous positive airway pressure [CPAP] or intubation with mechanical ventilation) may be needed to reach acceptable levels of PaO2 and improve acid-base balance. Morphine sulfate, nitrate vasodilators (IV nitroglycerin or nitroprusside) and loop diuretics are typically given to patients with cardiogenic pulmonary edema to improve dyspnea, alter preload and afterload on the heart, and promote diuresis. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, inotropic drugs (digoxin), antiarrhythmic agents, beta-adrenergic blockers, human B-type natriuretic peptide, and phosphodiesterase inhibitors may be used in selected circumstances. Bronchodilators may also be administered. Depending on the underlying cause, invasive interventions may occasionally include coronary angiography, intra-aortic balloon pump therapy, or surgical interventions such as coronary artery revascularization or valve repair, or ventricular assist device therapy.
How to measure edema?
Edema is documented according to type (pitting, nonpitting, or brawny), extent, location, symmetry, and degree of pitting. Areas over bony prominences are palpated for edema by pressing with the fingertip for 5 sec, then releasing. Normally, the tissue should immediately rebound to its original contour; therefore the depth of indentation is measured and recorded. The patient is questioned about increased tightness of rings, shoes, waistlines of garments, and belts. Periorbital edema is assessed; abdominal girth and ankle circumference are measured; and the patient's weight and fluid intake and output are monitored. Fragile edematous tissues are protected from damage by careful handling and positioning and by providing and teaching about special skin care. Edematous extremities are mobilized and elevated to promote venous return, and lung sounds auscultated for evidence of increasing pulmonary congestion. Prescribed therapies, including sodium restriction, diuretics, ACE inhibitors, protein replacement, and elastic stockings are provided, and the patient is instructed in their use.
How to reduce edema in the lower extremities?
Bed rest helps relieve lower extremity edema. Sitting with the feet and legs elevated may also reduce edema in the lower extremities. Dietary salt should be restricted to less than 2 g/day. Fluid intake may be restricted to about 1500 ml in 24 hr. This prescription may be relaxed when free diuresis has been attained.
What causes pulmonary edema?
Noncardiogenic pulmonary edema usually results from blood vessel injury, as happens in the adult respiratory distress syndrome (sepsis, shock, aspiration pneumonia, airway obstruction). Occasionally, protein-rich fluid floods the lungs from drug exposure (such as heroin overdose), hypoalbuminemia, high-altitude exposure (mountain sickness), fresh water aspiration in near drowning, hemorrhage in or around the brain, or other conditions. Pulmonary edema can occur as a chronic or acute condition.
Why does fluid seep out of the alveolar capillaries?
Fluid may seep out of the alveolar capillaries if these blood vessels are damaged and become excessively permeable to liquids (noncardiogenic pulmonary edema) or if hydrostatic pressures within blood vessels exceed the strength of the normal alveolar capillary wall (car diogenic pulmonary edema).
What does it mean when your leg is edema?
The term edema means swelling due to the accumulation of excess fluid. It is particularly common in the lower leg, ankles, and feet.
Why does my foot swell?
A person may experience inflammation due to an injury on the ankle or foot. People who sustain an injury to the foot or ankle may experience inflammation in that area, causing it to appear swollen. An ankle sprain is one of the most common foot injuries.
How to reduce swelling in ankles and legs?
A doctor may prescribe diuretic medications and suggest monitoring and reducing fluid intake. Both of these treatments can help reduce swelling in the ankles and legs.
What is the swelling of the arm called?
Lymphedema is a type of swelling that affects the soft tissues in the arms or legs, including the ankles. It is due to a buildup of a fluid called lymph. This is mainly composed of white blood cells, which help fight infection.
Why do my ankles swell?
12 causes of swollen ankles. There are many different causes of swollen ankles. In most cases, swelling is due to injury or edema. The term edema means swelling due to the accumulation of excess fluid. It is particularly common in the lower leg, ankles, and feet.
What is it called when your limbs are swollen after a DVT?
If these veins do not increase in size, the limb may remain swollen. Persistent pain and swelling after a DVT is called post-thrombotic syndrome. People who experience a DVT should consider: elevating the affected limb.
What can a doctor prescribe for swelling?
A doctor may prescribe diuretic medications or suggest methods for reducing the swelling if it is uncomfortable.