Flying gait: 5 ways to get rid of swelling on your feet

For many of us, in the heat, our legs become like decks. There are several reasons for the development of edema: from chronic fatigue, when vascular tone and blood circulation deteriorate, to a genetic predisposition to varicose veins. Therefore, one cannot do without examination by a cardiologist, neuropathologist or phlebologist, as well as without a comprehensive treatment of pathology. But in all cases, as an addition to the therapy prescribed by the doctor, you can try to reduce the extent of the edema yourself. As, we were told by the podologist Larisa Fortunskaya and Yulia Sharupich, a cardiologist of the highest category of the KNP “CDC of the Shevchenkovsky region.

Method 1. Squat often

If you are in the office, then many methods are not available to you, for example, baths. But you can squat from time to time. The legs are like a pump, pumping about 40% of the blood. That is why, if a person sits for a long time, the tissues can swell - almost half of the blood circulating in the body will flow sluggishly. Therefore, the active work of the calf muscles is both a way to reduce swelling and prevent them. By the way, not only a sedentary lifestyle leads to blood stagnation, but also the habit of sitting with crossed legs - in this case, the vena cava is pinched, passing through the pelvic region, lower back, shoulder blades and neck.

Tip 2. Massage your feet

An elementary foot massage will help to disperse the blood. It is only important to conduct it not in a chaotic manner, but strictly from the feet upwards - the venous blood flows according to this pattern, and thus you will help it rise in greater volume.

Tip 3. Take warm baths

It is generally accepted that contrast baths can reduce swelling. But they, rather, can forestall it, since they will improve the tone of the vessels, which means that the blood will circulate better through them. And when the tissues are already swollen, the contrast can even harm. So, hot water dilates blood vessels. But they are overstretched by stagnant blood, because if you relax them even more, then the part of the blood that does not go up, on the contrary, will increase.

Cold water, although it somewhat reduces pain, but it narrows the vessels, which means that it will become more difficult for blood to rise through narrower holes. Therefore, hold your feet in warm water (33-36C) for 15 minutes: this temperature increases blood circulation in the vessels without changing their tone.

Tip 4. Try the cream

 No cream can drastically improve the venous outflow, because it does not penetrate the vessels. But acting on the swollen tissues themselves, it can do something for the legs. Since it thickens somewhat during blood stagnation, an ointment based on heparin is needed - this substance makes the blood in the capillaries more fluid, which indirectly improves blood flow in the vascular bed.

Cream with juniper, menthol, anesthesin and / or novocaine relieves pain and distention in the legs, since all of these substances in one way or another have analgesic properties, and also cool hot tissues, which reduces them swelling.

Tip 5. Drink 2.5 liters of water

For thermoregulation to be complete, the body needs a sufficient amount of fluid. If little water is supplied with food, then the body turns on a rescue plan and retains moisture in the tissues - this is how their swelling occurs. Therefore, in the heat, more than ever, it is necessary to observe the drinking regime, and since the body loses moisture in the heat faster, then you need to drink at the rate of 50 ml of water per one kilogram of a person's weight. It is important that the water is at room temperature: a hot or warm drink will provoke sweating, that is, loss of moisture, and cold liquid is less absorbed into the blood. It is important to drink in small sips and often - drinking in one gulp 2-3 times a day will not solve the issue of dehydration: it is too much at the moment, the body will remove water, and if you give it to drink after 15 minutes, the water balance will be disturbed again.

Hot shoes: three taboos

Improperly fitted shoes can provoke or accelerate the development of edema. There are three main taboos.

Hairpin. If the heel is higher than 5 cm, then the calf muscles are turned off from the work, due to which the venous blood flow improves: from bottom to top. By the way, it is not for nothing that, according to WHO statistics, varicose veins in women are twice as common as in men.

Boat. Swelling is provoked by shoes made of synthetic materials: leather substitutes, polyester or vinyl fabric. Indeed, in this case, the leg does not breathe, heat exchange worsens, and this disrupts the work of blood vessels. Heat dissipation will be incomplete, even if the insole is in "artificial" shoes made of natural materials, or if the shoe is narrower than the foot.

Toe end-to-end. Sometimes sneakers have to be worn in the heat. For example, for outdoor sports, or because they fit perfectly into a sporty look. Wear socks so that you can leave a gap between the edge and your toes, otherwise heat transfer will also be impaired.

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