Exercise prevents edema

By Lee Seung-hun

You may know amongst your friends, someone who’s particularly prone to swelling. The swelling can appear in various ways ― some with their faces swelling up like a balloon; others who have difficulty wearing their rings on their usual finger; and others who can see sock band marks clearly imprinted on their calves at the end of the day.

Such swelling is caused by the abnormal accumulation of fluid in the body, and the medical term is edema. Approximately, 70 percent of our body consists of some type of fluid.

Generally, our body is capable of keeping fluid levels within limits where it is taken in through consuming food and drinking water, and discharged through perspiration and urination.

If for some reasons, our biological rhythm is dysfunctional and the bodily fluid level limit cannot be maintained, edema can occur.

Typically, patients will say that parts of their body have swollen without any particular known causes.

This is called idiopathic edema and can cause a weight fluctuation of 1.5-2.5 kg in any given day. Some patients experience it on their faces, especially the periorbital region, while others experience swelling in their hands and feet where putting on a ring or shoe can become difficult.

Chronic constipation, standing up for extended periods of time, eating food just before going to bed, or even eating overly salty food can cause such edema.

Some high blood pressure medications, antidepressants or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can also cause it. If you are prone to swelling for no reason, you will need to carefully monitor your dietary habits and lifestyle.

Suffering from other illnesses can cause the body to swell as well. In such cases, patients can notice weight fluctuations of over 0.6kg per day, with over 2kg of weight gain within a week while, wearing socks can leave indentation on the calves at the end of the day, which can repeat for over a week.

The most well known cause is kidney related illnesses. If there are issues with the glomerulus of the kidneys where the fluid waste is filtered, sodium can accumulate, urinary discharge can decease and fluid can build up in our body, symptomized as edema. Nephritis or chronic renal failure patients will notice that the edema progress from thin skins such as eyelids to legs and the whole body.

Liver-related illnesses such as hepatocirrhosis, hepatitis, and fatty liver can diminish albumin generation which can cause pressure in the blood vessels to increase resulting in edema.

Congestive heart failure, or hypertrophy can cause issues in proper blood circulation and cause an increase in blood pressure, where the fluid from the blood vessels seeps out to cause edema. With heart failures patients, edema is typically concentrated around the ankle area.

Endocrinopathy illnesses such as hypothyroidism, adrenocortical hormone dysfunction, and Cushing’s syndrome can also cause edema. With severe hypothyroidism, patients can experience myxedema whose characteristic is that the swollen skin remains swollen even after pressing the affected area with fingers.

Other than such illnesses, chronic venous insufficiency can cause lower extremity edema in the elderly, as it contributes to a decrease in elasticity in the vein and weakened valves.

This means that the re-circulation of blood back to the heart is ineffective and fluid builds up in the legs, resulting in lower extremity edema.

Oriental medicine views that edema is caused by various external factors such as wind, coldness and dampness as well as internal factors such as improper nutrition, physical exhaustion, and mental stress, adversely affecting the spleen, lungs and kidneys.

These three organs are located vertically in our body to metabolize fluid. The lungs are involved in the circulation of fluid without stoppage by promoting perspiration and proper circulation of qi.

The spleen is responsible for distributing the ingested fluid throughout the body, and the kidneys control the discharge of fluid through urination.

Idiopathic edema, which is closely related with mental stress without any underlying disease as root cause, is more common among females.

Yin-characteristics are more prevalent in women than men, and thus circulation of qi can be problematic and stagnant, which can often be accompanied by edema. Mental stress can also cause improper qi circulation, making stress-related edema also more common in women.

Oriental treatments can vary depending on the patient’s pulse, tongue, bodily discharges and characteristics, but essentially they aim to normalize the functions of the spleen, lungs and kidneys.

To prevent edema, keeping a positive and upbeat attitude is important. As mentioned before, stagnant qi circulation can easily lead to (idiopathic) edema.

Keeping positive thoughts can promote better qi circulation and also regular life patterns and exercise can also help.

If you are already suffering from edema, you can prevent aggravating the symptoms by avoiding salty or sweet food while regulating fluid intake.

In Oriental medicine, all patients with swelling symptoms are advised to avoid salt. If the resulting food tastes too bland, seasoning with vinegar is recommended.

Sweet foods also need to be monitored as sweetness can lead to damp qi within the body that disrupts digestion and adversely affects the kidneys, resulting in more swelling.

The writer practices oriental medicine at the UN Oriental Medical Clinic in Hannam-dong, Seoul.