Types, symptoms and treatment of internal edema in pregnant women. Internal swelling during pregnancy signs

Swelling during pregnancy

Almost 80% of women experience edema during pregnancy. Many consider this to be the norm and see no reason to worry. Is this true or is swelling a sign of a serious illness that requires timely treatment?

Swelling on early stages Pregnancies are rare. Most often, a woman encounters them in the middle and at the end of the period of waiting for the baby.

Swelling during pregnancy: causes

During pregnancy, swelling can occur for various reasons. Most often we are talking about physiological edema, which is a consequence of hormonal changes. However, edema may occur due to heart or kidney failure. And swelling in the last weeks of pregnancy may be the first sign of late toxicosis (preeclampsia).

Physiological edema during pregnancy

• Physiological edema is a consequence hormonal changes expectant mother. From the first days of pregnancy, a woman’s level of progesterone increases sharply, which serves to block the contractile functions of the uterus. This is necessary to maintain pregnancy. Side effects hormone - accumulation of potassium, which promotes fluid retention in the body.
• In the body of the expectant mother the volume of blood circulating through the vessels increases, which increases pressure on the walls of blood vessels. Thus, blood can penetrate into the surrounding tissues, which also causes swelling.

Both of these reasons are normal for a pregnant woman and are not a cause for concern.

Another phenomenon familiar to pregnant women is swelling of the nasal mucosa. It seems to be a common runny nose, but it cannot be treated with conventional methods. Vasoconstrictors will not only help with a runny nose, but will also narrow the blood vessels in the placenta and umbilical cord. This may be the cause of fetal hypoxia. Other remedies for the common cold penetrate the placenta into the baby’s blood. Not treating is not an option. Swelling of the nasal mucosa makes breathing difficult, less oxygen enters the blood, resulting in oxygen starvation in the child. The safest option is to promptly clear the nasal cavity and rinse with salt water or saline solution. The cause of swelling of the nasal mucosa during pregnancy is the same progesterone.

Swelling of the labia during pregnancy

Swelling of the labia appears in the third trimester and does not pose a threat. At the end of pregnancy, the fetus becomes large. The baby puts pressure on the lower part of the uterus and squeezes the blood vessels. This leads to stagnation of blood and, as a result, swelling occurs. In some cases, vaginal varicose veins may occur, manifested by protruding veins and the formation of nodes. This condition is not a pathology and goes away after childbirth.

"Cardiac" edema during pregnancy

Edema can be caused by problems with the cardiovascular system. Such swelling has a strictly defined localization: it always tends downwards. If a woman stands, her legs swell; when lying down, her lower back or abdomen swells.

To make an accurate diagnosis, the doctor needs to measure the size of the liver. The fact is that with edema caused by heart disease, the size of the liver first increases. Other types of edema during pregnancy do not cause such changes.

"Renal" edema duringpregnancy

Not all kidney problems lead to edema. The cause of such problems is most often acute or chronic glomerulonephritis. With “renal” edema, the face swells first, then the arms and legs.

Most often, a woman knows about her kidney problems, which greatly simplifies the diagnosis. However, in some cases, during pregnancy, such diseases arise primarily. In this case, additional research is necessary to make a diagnosis. If the diagnosis is confirmed, drug treatment in a hospital is necessary.

Edema with late toxicosis (Swelling with gestosis)

Most common reason pathological edema of pregnant women - gestosis (dropsy), or late toxicosis. Swelling is just the first symptom of a serious problem. Due to edema, a pregnant woman will experience an increase in blood pressure, the appearance of protein in the urine and changes in brain function, which can manifest as seizures. The accumulation of fluid during gestosis (dropsy) occurs due to impaired water-salt metabolism and increased capillary permeability.

There are three stages of edema during gestosis (dropsy):

How to recognize edema during pregnancy?

In most cases, it is easy to recognize edema during pregnancy on your own.

• The very first and most common sign is that it is difficult to fasten your shoes at the end of the day.
• The second most common symptom is that it is difficult to remove the wedding ring from your finger.
• Another reliable way to recognize edema during pregnancy is to monitor weight gain. If you gain more than 300-400 g. per week, or weight gain is uneven - this indicates the presence of edema.
• In addition, the skin of a woman with edema first becomes loose, and then, on the contrary, stretches and becomes tense.

Internal edema during pregnancy: signs

Unfortunately, in some cases it is not so easy to determine the presence of edema. We are talking about hidden, internal swelling. In this case, it is of paramount importance weight gain control pregnant woman. Hidden edema, or, as they are also called, pasty, reveals itself as sharp and uneven changes in weight.

You can more accurately determine the presence of edema after observing for several days the amount of fluid removed from the body. Edema during pregnancy occurs when fluid retention occurs in the body. This is what needs to be tracked. To take measurements, it is necessary to keep records during the day: how much liquid was drunk/eaten and how much was excreted. When calculating the injected liquid, not only drinks are taken into account, but also soups and fruits (vegetables). Doctors recommend equating one fruit or vegetable to 50 ml. liquids. Normally, a person excretes up to 75% of the liquid he drinks, the rest is excreted through breathing and sweat. If there are obvious deviations from these indications, it means that there is hidden swelling. For greater reliability of the observation, it is recommended to repeat 2-3 times.

Another way to track swelling is o track changes in ankle diameter. If the fluctuations are more than 1 cm, this is also a clear sign of edema.

Is edema dangerous during pregnancy?

Edema itself is rarely truly dangerous. The main danger is the diseases of which they are symptoms. However, internal abdominal swelling can harm the fetus. The fact is that it is mainly the muscle tissue that swells, including the uterus, placenta and abdominal wall. A swollen placenta can compress the umbilical cord vessels, which causes a lack of oxygen in the baby.

Edema during pregnancy: how to deal with it

For physiological edema, it is enough to follow a diet for pregnant women and also control fluid intake. First of all, you should give up fatty, fried, smoked and salty foods. Salt especially contributes to fluid retention in the body, so it is better to add a little less salt to all food. If we talk about numerical expression, then the norm of salt for a pregnant woman is 8 g, and in ordinary life – 14 g. With severe physiological edema, you can sit on a salt-free diet for some time. In some cases, you can take diuretics, but only after consulting a doctor.

Other types of edema cannot be treated with diet; drug treatment and strict medical supervision are necessary. It is very important to rule out the root cause.

The most difficult situation is with gestosis. Despite the swelling, the expectant mother’s body faces dehydration. This means that you cannot limit fluid intake or take diuretics (teas). How can this be? First of all, you must strictly follow your diet. This will not completely solve the problem, but it will relieve general tension. Secondly, strictly follow the doctor’s recommendations and undergo a course of medication.

Edema during pregnancy: folk remedies

There are a number of women who fight edema using folk remedies. Now you can easily find recipes for teas and infusions using herbs, cranberries, pumpkin, dried apricots and other products that can solve this problem. In fact, most recipes are diuretic teas and infusions. And as mentioned above, such means cannot be used in all cases. Treat folk recipes with due criticality and under no circumstances replace them with treatment prescribed by a doctor.

In rainy weather, after a hard day at work, most people experience swelling. Your legs become wobbly, bags under your eyes bother you more and more in the morning, you begin to feel like balloon. Swelling occurs not only in parts of the body, but also in internal organs.
Basically, they are a signal that something is wrong with your body. Cause of swelling It could be anything, here are some of them.

- Spending a lot of time in an upright position. At the same time, the lower limbs swell.
— For most women, swelling occurs before menstruation. The eyelids, face, ankles, as well as joints and gums become swollen.
— Many people are concerned about swelling of the eyes. They usually appear due to kidney diseases, allergies and hormonal disorders. Another reason is lack of sleep, drinking large amounts of liquid, salty and spicy foods before bedtime.
- Edema can occur in pregnant women. Usually, the legs swell first, then the arms, stomach and face. In some cases, swelling may be a sign of toxicosis.
- One more possible reason– insect bites, eating unusual food, as well as the body’s reaction to cosmetics and medications. This type of swelling is called Quincke's edema. Often it is of an allergic nature. Patients may experience enlarged limbs and face.
- Swelling can also occur due to varicose veins, injuries and extensive bruising.
- If the heart function is insufficient, cardiac edema may occur. The causes of swelling are increased venous pressure, salt retention in the body. In this case, the legs swell first. And if treatment is not carried out, your hands and body will begin to swell from the inside. And in the most difficult cases, the subcutaneous tissue of the entire body swells.
- Swelling can be caused by prolonged fasting. Due to poor nutrition, the level of protein in the blood decreases, and “hunger” edema appears.

Treat swelling This can be done either with the help of a doctor or at home.
1. Swelling caused by excessive fluid intake can be combated with the help of special foot baths. To do this, add a few tablespoons of salt to cool water and soak your feet in the container for 5-10 minutes.
2. Use diuretics. The choice of drug and dose calculation must be carried out with the help of a doctor.
3. Compression garments can be used to prevent leg swelling. It prevents fluid from stagnating in the lower extremities.
4. Special cream-gels with the addition of vegetable oils will help cope with leg swelling.
5. If you have swelling due to PMS, eliminate salty foods from your diet. Drink peppermint and chamomile teas.
6. To combat eye swelling, make compresses from chamomile, sage and dill. In addition, you will prevent the early appearance of wrinkles in the eye area.
7. Another method of combating edema is strengthening the body’s vascular system. Temper your body by exercising regularly. You can do a healing massage on swollen parts of the body.

Remember that edema is not a disease, but a consequence. Therefore, the disease itself must be treated. And only a doctor can prescribe competent, balanced treatment.

Probably every person at least once in his life has had to deal with such an unpleasant phenomenon as internal edema or swelling of various parts of the body. This occurs due to the accumulation of excess fluid in the subcutaneous tissues. Edema within the body can be considered as a separate type, which, as a rule, occurs either against the background of disorders of the internal organs of vital activity, or during pregnancy. In cases of illness, edema is a symptom of the disease, or a complicated form of previously untreated edema. As for pregnancy, this is the most common type of this edema.

Internal edema - treatment

Before you start treatment internal edema you need to take all the necessary tests, in particular a blood test, a urine test, to check for an allergic reaction of the body, which will help the doctor choose the most suitable treatment for you (since an allergic reaction is possible to a number of drugs, resulting in complications). Also, to treat internal edema, they may prescribe vitamins, agents that strengthen the walls of blood vessels, as well as prescribe a special diet and prescribe a diuretic drink (herbs, teas, berry infusions, etc.).

Internal swelling - symptoms

Internal edema is a complex form of edema. It is determined by pressing on the swollen surface with the tip of a finger and in cases of pit formation, it can be assumed that you have edema, but the main criterion by which internal edema is determined is an increase in weight by more than 300 grams. This is the same liquid that formed the internal edema. The result of this could be the manifestation of an allergic reaction, or the presence of some kind of disease of the abdominal organs (swelling occurs in the lumbar region).

Quite rarely, but there are still cases when internal edema is a symptom of a disease in pregnant women such as gestosis, which can cause the development of nephropathy (impaired kidney function, resulting in the presence of protein in the urine), eclampsia. These symptoms can occur after the 20th week of pregnancy as a result of some complications and require immediate medical attention. In addition to edema during pregnancy, there is also internal edema of the kidneys and heart, the causes of which are disturbances in the performance of their functions, as well as previously experienced diseases that make themselves felt. In cases of cardiac edema, swelling is observed in the lumbar and hip areas, an enlargement of the liver is possible, and in cases of renal edema, bags appear under the eyes, and the arms and legs swell.

Have you read a lot of scary facts about swelling in pregnant women and are now worried that you won’t be able to detect internal swelling in time? How to recognize edema during pregnancy and how to deal with it? We will answer your questions!

How to determine edema during pregnancy

Almost 80% of pregnant women experience swelling in certain parts of the body. Swelling during pregnancy is a well-known fact that can frighten women who are just planning their pregnancy. In fact, swelling in most cases is a normal phenomenon, which is explained by physiological changes. You can diagnose it yourself, but no one can cancel observing a doctor and following his recommendations.

Signs of edema during pregnancy

Expectant mothers are often upset, and sometimes even frightened, by possible swelling during pregnancy. Their symptoms are easy to identify: you answered yes to the following questions:

• Is your wedding ring difficult or impossible to remove from your finger?
• Are your comfortable shoes starting to feel too tight?
• Are you gaining more than 300 grams per week?
• Does your finger leave a mark when you press on the skin?

All these obvious signs of edema are difficult to miss. As a rule, the legs swell first, then the arms, followed by swelling of the abdomen and face. Do not take this phenomenon lightly; be sure to consult a doctor for advice on reducing swelling and its further prevention.

Pregnant women are advised to reduce salt, sweets and carbonated drinks in their diet, which retain fluid in the body. At the same time, in no case should you reduce the amount of fluid you drink, because the less water you drink, the more the body will try to retain it.

Try not to stand or sit for a long time, or be in hot places. Apply medicines, including herbal infusions, only as prescribed by a doctor.

In the normal course of pregnancy and the absence of kidney and cardiovascular diseases, edema appears at the end of the second trimester.

Internal edema during pregnancy: signs and methods of treatment.

There are times when recognizing the presence of edema is not so easy. Hidden or pastous edema can only be diagnosed with constant monitoring of changes in weight. With hidden edema, a pregnant woman gains a lot of weight and unevenly. You can more accurately determine the presence of internal edema during pregnancy by monitoring the amount of fluid removed from the body. After all, edema occurs when fluid accumulates in the body and it is this delay that needs to be analyzed.

Normally, a person excretes up to 75% of the fluid consumed in urine. In this case, one vegetable or fruit should be equated to 50 ml of liquid (some recommend counting the mass of the fruit as the same amount of liquid). If you identify significant deviations from the norm, then there is a high probability of hidden edema during pregnancy. Their symptoms are not so obvious, but the consequences due to lack of treatment can be dangerous.

If you believe Western experts, then both hidden and visible edema during pregnancy are a physiologically determined phenomenon, and therefore do not require observation, much less treatment. Domestic doctors have a different opinion. Edema is dangerous not in itself, but as a possible symptom of a disease, which in any case is easier to recognize in the early stages and treat without consequences for the expectant mother and her child. This is especially true for pregnant women in later stages, when edema can provoke placental abruption and oxygen starvation of the child.