If your weight stubbornly creeps up, and you do not fit into your favorite dress, it is not necessary in fatty deposits. Perhaps, for some reason, fluid is trapped in your body.
If to speak about the reasons of a delay of a liquid, it is possible to allocate situational edemas and chronic. Situations arise in response to any circumstances and, as a rule, pass if circumstances change. Chronic fluid retention occurs most often due to some kind of disease.
Situational swelling
Harmful products. If you were at a party and feasted on sauces and pickles, and even drank it all with alcohol, do not be surprised if in the morning, when you are on the scales, you will find that you are heavier. In order for the body to bring out an excess of salt and alcohol, he needs these substances to dissolve in water.
How to overcome: the more salt and alcohol, the more water. On the harm of alcohol, it makes no sense to repeat, but salt to any person is recommended to eat no more than 3 grams per day.
Immobility. You may have swelling if you have been sitting still for a long time. For example, with a long flight or at a computer. In this case, people with a predisposition to venous insufficiency are more likely to suffer from fluid retention. In this case, as a rule, the lower part of the trunk swells. Edema comes off as soon as your body is able to move.
How to overcome: if necessary for a long time to stay in a sedentary position, it is recommended from time to time to knead limbs, get up and walk around (even during the flight).
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS). There is a so-called edematous form of PMS, when a woman before a month feels that the shoes and rings have become cramped. After monthly all is normalized.
How to overcome: women with this form of PMS should consult a gynecologist, and he will help to correct this problem.
Reception of medicines. There are a number of medications, the side effect of which can be the appearance of edema. For example, drugs for regulation of pressure, which due to the expansion of blood vessels worsen the outflow of blood, which causes blood stasis and swelling. This situation is not dangerous, but it causes discomfort.
How to overcome: tell your doctor about the side effect of the medication, and he will adjust the treatment.
Premenopause. With the change in the hormonal background, fluid retention and weight accumulation may be associated.
How to overcome: if, together with edema, you observe some other symptoms of approaching menopause, for example, menstrual irregularities, hot flashes, then you need to go to the gynecologist. There are drugs that help regulate the hormonal background and prevent fluid retention.
Chronic edema
If you regularly systemic fluid, you should think about whether you have any disease. Chronic fluid retention may be associated with the following diseases.
Cardiovascular – heart failure, heart disease. As a rule, such a disease is preceded by a history – shortness of breath, arrhythmia, inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), etc.
Endocrine – hypothyroidism (decreased thyroid function), autoimmune thyroiditis. Accompany ed by the swelling of the whole body.
Decreased adrenal function – swelling in this case is accompanied by increased blood pressure, lowering the level of potassium in the blood, etc.
Diseases of the kidneys. First of all, it is such a complex disease as glomerulonephritis.
Venous insufficiency. As a rule, these are swelling of the lower extremities. Vascular problems can also be the cause of asymmetric edema. Also, such swelling can cause a tumor that squeezes the vessels from one side (fibromyoma, swelling in the abdominal cavity, etc.).
Lymphatic disorders – lymphatic drainage. As a rule, these are swelling of the legs (elephantiasis).
Diseases of the liver – chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis.
Violation of protein metabolism. In this case, edema appears either because of a shortage, or because of the loss of protein due to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, protein loss due to fasting, etc.
How to overcome: with chronic edema, it is necessary to find out and treat the cause, and not to try to cope with puffiness, for example, using diuretics. Self-cure chronic swelling is dangerous!
There is an opinion that if you drink liquid for the night, then swelling will appear in the morning. In fact, healthy people do not have any edema due to excessively drunk fluids. If you notice that you have unexplained causes of fluid retention (there are swelling under the eyes, you can not fit in your shoes, your weight grows despite the diet), you should look for the cause of this condition in your health or in your habits.
Picture Credit: David Romualdo