Does anyone know how to ease swelling while pregnant?

Question

I am 27 weeks pregnant. Swelling started for me in my 3rd month but it was really hot here then and the Dr. said there was nothing I could do but eat very little salt and drink tons of water. Course I did that but it didn't help due to the heat. Well, it had eased up some since it got cooler out but of course it hasn't went away completely. Now it is very painful. It's mainly in my legs, ankles, and feet. My skin feels so tight like it could bust literally. Like I said, I know not to eat salt and to drink lots of water. Any other advise? At my last visit my blood pressure and everything was fine so,so far I am not toxemic....

Answer 1

Firstly PLEASE SALT YOUR FOOD TO TASTE. Pregnancy is a salt wasting condition, old advice was to reduce limit salt intake but this has been found to be harmful during pregnancy.

You can also soak your feet or all of you in a bath containing epsom salts, that helps for a lot of women.

It also wouldn't hurt to look at the rest of your diet.

http://www.apregnancyguide.com/healthy-pregnancy/eating-two.php
Pregnancy is a natural, healthy state, and most changes in pregnant women occur without harmful effects. But some physiological changes have been topics of particular medical concern. In past years, the tendency of pregnant women to retain water has led to restriction of sodium intake. When water retention was severe, diuretics were frequently prescribed to avoid toxemia. However, views on sodium restriction have changed. today, there is considerable medical opinion that pregnancy is a "salt-wasting" condition--that is, one in which the body can use more salt than usual. Further, sodium deprivation may be harmful to the fetus. The sodium intake usually recommended in pregnancy is 2,000 to 8,000 milligrams a day, compared to the normally recommended 1,100 to 3,300 milligrams per day. However, pregnant women should be careful that their sodium intake does not greatly exceed this allowance.


http://www.truestarhealth.com/Notes/1296007.html
Pregnant women who are experiencing hypertension of pregnancy should not follow a low-salt diet. As a low salt diet has not been shown to have a significant effect in reducing blood pressure during pregnancy, salt restriction is not recommended to women with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. Additionally, unlike other conditions that cause high blood pressure, salt restriction (and use of diuretics) can worsen preeclampsia by reducing blood flow to the kidneys and placenta. In preeclampsia, unrestricted use of salt and an increased consumption of water are needed to maintain normal blood volume and circulation to the placenta.

http://www.blueribbonbaby.org/toxemia-preeclampsia-brewer-diet/hypertension-and-salt-restriction/
Each person has many finely tuned mechanisms that work in the body to preserve the appropriate concentration of sodium in the tissues and in the bloodstream. In normal pregnancy, the mother’s blood volume must expand by more than 40% to meet the metabolic demands of the placenta. Salt is a chief element in maintaining this dramatically expanded blood volume. Salt causes the body to retain fluid, which, under normal conditions, is retained in the bloodstream for use in placental perfusion.

Salt restriction during pregnancy limits the normal expansion of the blood volume, with disastrous consequences. Depending on the degree of sodium restriction and the subsequent blood volume limitation the placenta may:

* grow slowly, or not at all,
* develop areas of dead tissue (infarcts) that cannot function,
* be unable to accomplish the transfer of nutrients to the baby,
* even begin to separate from the wall of the uterus, causing hemorrhage and cutting off the baby’s oxygen supply.

Under these conditions, the baby’s growth, development and even life are imperiled.

Cutting out salt frequently leads to an inadequate diet in other areas as well. Foods such as eggs, milk, cheese and salty meat products are often on the list of restricted foods for a low-salt diet. These foods are sources of essential high-quality protein, necessary for baby’s growth, and for prevention of toxemiaAs-defined-by-the-1997-Merriam-Webster-M.... It may also mean reduced food intake overall, as food is no longer quite as palatable without salt. Inadequate calorie consumption leads to the body using protein for fuel…protein needed for the baby’s growth and development.

Some women live and/or work in conditions that cause their bodies to lose more sodium than is healthful (hot climate, “sweaty” work, aerobic exercise, etc.), and thus boost the body’s sodium need. If the mother does not take in more, her depletion will activate temporary sodium-conserving mechanisms in the kidneys and adrenal glands. If salt deprivation continues, these organs can become exhausted, and show signs of degenerative disease.


http://www.eu-salt.com/images/paper5.pdf
No salt restriction
Pregnancy is a particularly sensitive time for the
body when optimum nutrition is vitally important
to ensure the good health of mother and baby.
Historically, pregnant women have been advised
to lower their salt intake but current recommendations
advise strongly against following a
low-salt diet during pregnancy. In their technical
bulletin 179, published in 1993, the American
College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology state,
“There is no clinical benefit in restricting sodium
intake during pregnancy and there is the
potential for harm.”

[...]

Oedema
Many pregnant women are also casually
by friends and family to restrict their salt
to prevent 'swelling' of feet and ankles.
not a current medical recommendation.
accumulation of fluid) in the feet and
often occurs during pregnancy. This is
of increased oestrogen production and
blood volume. Oestrogen increases a
ability to absorb water into connective
thus fluid retention is naturally higher.
same time, progesterone increases the
content of urine, so more sodium than
lost by women during pregnancy. Therefore,
despite the presence of oedema, the need
sodium increases in pregnant women.

http://medind.nic.in/imvw/imvw22303.html
ABSTRACT: Use of diuretics and salt restriction had no beneficial role in mild pre-eclamptic toxaemia patients. On the contrary they had harmful effect. On the other hand normal diet and no diuretics had beneficial effect. Induction at less than 38 weeks of gestation was required in more percentage of patients on diuretics and salt restriction. The mean birth weight and mean maturity were significantly more in patients on normal diet and no diuretics. Perinatal martality, though higher in salt restricted and diuretic group, was not statistically significantly different from the group on normal diet and no diuretics.

http://www.hon.ch/Dossier/MotherChild/pregnancy/nutrition.html
Salt . There is considerable medical opinion that pregnancy is a "salt-wasting" condition, that is, one in which the body can use more salt than usual. Further, sodium deprivation may be harmful to the fetus. The sodium intake usually recommended in pregnancy is 2,000 to 8,000 milligrams a day, compared to the normally recommended 1,100 to 3,300 milligrams per day.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON00033.html
Contrary to popular belief, sodium, which helps to regulate water in the
body, is needed in larger quantities during pregnancy. Larger than normal
amounts of this electrolyte are needed because of increased fluid volume in
the mother, the requirements of the fetus, and the level of sodium in the
amniotic fluid. For those who do not have high blood pressure, salt
restriction is not recommended. Those with medical problems that require
salt restriction should consult their physicians. Trace minerals, such as
iodine, usually needed in small amounts, are needed in greater quantities
during pregnancy. Iodine can be obtained in iodized salt and spinach.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2070955&dopt=Citation
This article reviews the major milestones in obstetric research in the past 90 years, which have lead to the wide-spread use of salt restriction during pregnancy. Possibly the most ardent advocate of the view that salt plays a crucial role in eclampsia was De Snoo (1877-1949), a Dutch obstetrician. However, despite many enthusiastic clinical reports, no convincing evidence has ever been produced that salt restriction helps in the prevention of hypertension during pregnancy.

http://pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/ajog/abstract.00000447-199903000-00023.htm;jsessionid=HZThlLq0lQ9TVwsqb1pQmRrKLJrpc1xkjFv7Rp4QzhG1QLpxg8NS!1071114923!181195629!8091!-1
CONCLUSION: These data indicate that a low-sodium diet given to pregnant rats for the last 7 days of gestation leads to reduced plasma volume expansion and fetal growth restriction. This could prove to be a simple animal model for studying the relationship between maternal plasma volume and fetal growth. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1999;180:608-13.)

Answer 2

Elevate your feet. They say try to get your feet above your heart. So if you have a reclining chair tilt it back and prop some pillows underneath your feet (of course being careful of not laying right on your back) Also cool compresses reduces swelling. So if you have ice packs or even bags of frozen veggies put that on your legs/ankles. If you can, try to do that a few times a day. Cool showers/baths are also good but I know I cant handle a cold shower. Good Luck

Answer 3

I also have this problem. Rest assured there is a purpose to the swelling. Your body is acting like a camel right now, hoarding water for the amniotic sack, which completely regenerates itself every few hours. Naturally the water pools in your feet and ankles. If you don't have that storage of water for the body to draw from, then it will draw it from your intestines, possibly causing constipation.

Here is a good article that contains lots of tips to help alleviate the swelling, as well as discussing what is normal and what is not. Just scroll down to get to that part.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/1/T010700.asp#T010721

Answer 4

I have 4 children and I swelled alot. The thing that helped me was getting someone to massage the swollen area. When your husband massages your legs, ankles and feet have him use lotion and really put pressure and rub it real good. You will be surprised on how well it works.

Truth

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

sorry but that is abou t all you can do. You could try a warm bath and have someone massage you to help relieve some of the discomforts. Use lotion too to help your skin not feel as tight. Good luck

Answer 7

Walking more will treat both. Put on your good shoes and start walking. OH, and the SPD means you have plenty of room in your pelvis for a vaginal birth - the barrier to vaginal birth is not pain, you want to welcome and embrace the pain as it means are going the way they should.

Answer 8

get compression hose, they are made for people with vericose veins, but work great for swelling too!

Answer 9

elevate your feet and relax as much as you can. try to stay away from salty foods which can increase the edema . Good Luck and CONGRATz!

Answer 10

try putting you feet on top of a pillow when you sleep or sitting down