What is peripheral edema?

What is peripheral edema?

Peripheral edema is swelling of your lower legs or hands. The cause may be simple, such as sitting for too long on a plane or standing for too long. Or it may involve a more serious underlying disease. Edema occurs when something disrupts the usual balance of fluids in your cells.

Is peripheral edema life threatening?

Ascites and peripheral edema can be uncomfortable and can be a sign of a more serious condition. Pulmonary edema, which makes it difficult to breathe and can be life threatening, is a symptom of heart failure and is discussed in more detail separately.

What are the causes of peripheral edema?

The most common cause of peripheral edema in patients over 50 yrs of age is venous insufficiency and related to aging, but many other underlying comorbid conditions like heart failure, renal failure, liver failure, and trauma can affect any age group. Peripheral edema can also be commonly observed in pregnancy.

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What are the signs and symptoms of peripheral edema?

Common early signs of peripheral edema include the following:

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• An arm or leg starts feeling full or heavy.
• The arm or leg starts to look swollen.
• When you press the swelling, it leaves a dent.
• Your clothing or jewelry starts to feel tight and uncomfortable.
• The skin near the edema feels tight or warm.

Is peripheral edema curable?

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). One of the most common diuretics is furosemide (Lasix).

How do you stop edema?

The following may help decrease edema and keep it from coming back….Compression stockings

1. Movement. Moving and using the muscles in the part of your body affected by edema, especially your legs, may help pump the excess fluid back toward your heart.
2. Elevation.
3. Massage.
4. Compression.
5. Protection.
6. Reduce salt intake.

What foods cause edema?

Foods that can cause inflammation

• Sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. When there’s too much sugar in our system, our insulin tries to store the excess within fat cells, causing them to get larger.
• Artificial trans fats.
• Vegetable and seed oils.
• Refined carbohydrates.
• Alcohol.
• Red meat and processed meat.

What foods are good to reduce edema?

Eat natural diuretic vegetables, including asparagus, parsley, beets, grapes, green beans, leafy greens, pineapple, pumpkin, onion, leeks, and garlic. Some of these foods may interact with diuretic medications. Eat antioxidant foods, such as blueberries, cherries, tomatoes, squash, and bell peppers.