Don’t take early morning swelling seriously, beware of these 7 health problems!

Have you ever had this experience? When you wake up in the morning, you find that you have gained weight: your eyelids are swollen, your eye bags are swollen, your whole face has become rounder, and even your calves, arms, and stomach have pits when you press them. In fact, these are all manifestations of edema. Why do you get swollen after sleeping? Is it because you drank too much water or is there something wrong with your body? Today, Amway will talk to you about edema.

1. Why does the body swell?

Under normal circumstances, the water content of human subcutaneous tissue is stable, but when too much blood accumulates around, the blood vessel pressure increases and the water is squeezed into the subcutaneous tissue. The subcutaneous tissue absorbs water like a sponge, propping up the skin and causing "edema". To determine whether there is edema, just press the skin. If there is a dent or it rebounds very slowly, it is basically edema. Many people think that drinking too much water is the main cause of edema, but in fact, this does not cause edema for most healthy people. After the water drunk before going to bed is absorbed by the small intestine, the human body's circulatory system, respiratory system, and urinary system will work together to maintain the body's water balance and will not cause excessive retention of water in the tissue fluid. Edema can be divided into physiological edema and pathological edema. Physiological edema is usually temporary and is mostly caused by body pressure or gravity. For example, when sleeping, the body changes from standing upright to lying flat, the force direction of the blood on the face changes, the speed of returning to the heart slows down, and the water is more likely to spread to the eyes with looser subcutaneous tissue, causing periocular edema. Sitting or standing for a long time in one posture can lead to poor blood circulation in the lower limbs, causing edema in the legs and feet. Pathological edema is often related to disease and medication, and requires more attention.

2. Edema is a sign of disease

The causes of pathological edema are relatively complex, and a preliminary diagnosis must be made based on the location, nature, and accompanying symptoms of the edema, combined with the patient's medical history, and then further laboratory tests, imaging examinations, etc. must be performed to clarify the primary disease that causes the edema.

Cardiogenic edema: generally the lower limbs swell first. Cardiogenic edema is caused by cardiac dysfunction, and edema often first appears in the lower limbs, feet, ankles, etc. In severe cases, it can occur in the upper limbs, chest, back, and face, and even pleural and pericardial effusions may occur.

Nephrogenic edema: Eyelid swelling first is common in patients with nephrotic syndrome, acute and chronic glomerulonephritis. Edema in loose subcutaneous tissue and soft skin areas such as the eyelids and face is often more significant than in drooping areas. Edema caused by abnormal thyroid gland: It is more common in hypothyroidism of the face, often manifested as facial, hand and foot edema, and pale skin; when the thyroid gland is hyperactive, eyelids and tissues around the eye sockets may swell, and the eyeballs may bulge.

Drug-induced edema: disappears after stopping the medication. Edema caused by drugs such as cortical hormones, testosterone, estrogen, and insulin is more common and disappears after stopping the medication.

Nutritional edema: Edema caused by nutritional deficiency can spread to the whole body. It occurs slowly, usually starting from loose tissues and spreading to the subcutaneous tissues of the whole body. In severe cases, obvious edema may occur in hanging parts such as the lower limbs.

Pregnancy edema: more common in the second half of pregnancy, the uterus will compress the pelvic veins and inferior vena cava, blood return will slow down or decrease, often causing mild edema in both lower limbs. Dermatomyositis edema: Periorbital edema is a typical manifestation of dermatomyositis, often accompanied by urticaria, multiforme or nodosum erythema.

3. Tips for treating edema

The intake of salt should not exceed 5 grams. Women who are prone to edema before menstruation should pay special attention to a light diet. Do not stand or sit for a long time: avoid fluid accumulation. Body fluid is affected by gravity. Standing or sitting for a long time will cause excessive accumulation in the legs, which is prone to varicose veins and leg edema. People who stand or sit for a long time can raise their legs more during work breaks to allow blood to fully return to the lower limbs. Medical elastic stockings can be worn when necessary. Insist on aerobic exercise: accelerate the discharge of excess water. Aerobic exercise can dilate blood vessels and help the water entering the kidneys to be better excreted. It is recommended to do half an hour of aerobic exercise every day, such as brisk walking, yoga, jogging, Ba Duan Jin, etc.

Three tips: quickly reduce edema. If you have edema in the morning, you can try the following methods to quickly relieve it: cold compress, which can constrict local blood vessels and reduce the seepage of water in the blood vessels; massage, which can speed up the flow of water in the subcutaneous tissue; drink black coffee, which is a diuretic and helps promote fluid metabolism and reduce edema.