How To Get Rid of Swelling

Swelling is one of the most common symptoms, and their causes range from normal everyday activities to serious disease. You may get swelling of a part of your body like your fingers, legs or feet, for example, or it may be more generalized where your entire body swells up. If you have been noticing swelling of any part of your body it is important to find the cause and treat it. There are many things you can do to get rid of swelling.

Swelling of part of the body

  • Trauma: if you injure any part of your body there will be an inflammatory response as well as breakage of blood vessels, which would lead to fluid collecting.
  • Infection: when you have an infection he body mounts an immune response and part of that is to send white cells to the area to fight off infection, and in order to do that the amount of blood flow to that area must increase, and that causes swelling.
  • Bites and stings: when you are bitten of stung there is tissue damage and there may also be a toxin released from the animal. This means that there is an immune response as well as a traumatic response to cause the swelling.

Swelling of the whole body:

  • Allergy: your body may swell up if you have a serious allergic reaction to something. This is an emergency and you should go to your doctor immediately.
  • Medication: some medications are designed to change the way your body loses or retains water, so this can cause swelling. You may also be allergic to certain medication, which can then cause an allergic swelling.
  • Autoimmune diseases: in some autoimmune diseases the tissue in the body becomes destroyed, and this leads to a traumatic reaction with swelling.

Getting rid of swelling

Now that you understand the causes of swelling you can see how various treatment options allow you to get rid of swelling.

  1. Elevation: this helps to return blood to the heart more quickly so there will be less swelling.
  2. Compression and ice: this will help to prevent the swelling and help return blood to the heart much more quickly.
  3. Anti-inflammatories: these medications help to reduce the inflammation, and as a result the associated swelling will be reduced as well.
  4. Avoid standing for a long time: standing for a long time impairs your circulation so if you move around blood will flow better.
  5. Less salt: water follows salt, so the more salt you eat the more water your body will hold onto.
  6. Exercise: exercise will help strengthen your muscles and help improve the blood flow in your body, especially your legs.
  7. See a doctor: if you have serious swelling it is important to get checked by a doctor so that any serious illnesses can be ruled out and you can get the appropriate treatment to reduce the swelling.