Why do my feet swell in summer and how can pressotherapy help us?

High temperatures and poor blood circulation can cause some people to experience swelling in both their legs and feet. These signs are known as peripheral edema and consist of an excessive accumulation of fluid in the lower part of the legs and feet.

Heat causes vasodilation, that is, the veins responsible for return circulation increase in size, making venous return difficult. If said return is not done correctly, it causes an increase in fluid in the legs and feet.

Main causes that affect blood circulation

As we have mentioned before, Heat is one of the main causes that can cause swollen feetHowever, it is not the only reason. The main causes that can cause peripheral edema, in addition to high temperatures, are the following:

• Lack of hydration: It seems contradictory to hear health personnel say that it is necessary to drink more water when we have fluid accumulation. However, the explanation is simple, when the body does not have enough hydration, it retains the little fluid it does have, thus causing peripheral edema.
• Bad nutrition: foods rich in salt such as ultra-processed foods increase fluid retention. For this reason, nutritionists recommend in these cases eating more fiber, foods rich in magnesium, potassium and water, such as fruit (watermelon, melon, pineapple, etc.) which will help us regulate the electrolyte imbalance that causes fluid retention, drink infusions, reduce salt, etc.
• Excess hours standing or sedentary lifestyle: both standing for long hours and sitting for many hours is counterproductive for our circulation since it causes excess fluid to accumulate in the lower extremities.
• Few hours of rest: sleeping approximately 8 hours is very important to avoid any type of pathology. Specifically, for the accumulation of liquids it is essential since by sleeping in a horizontal position we suppress gravity and help the return circulation to do its job.
• Overweight: When a person is obese, the feet and ankles make more effort than usual to stand or walk. This causes an overexertion to our circulatory system, which, little by little, will make the return circulation worse than in a person with an adequate weight.
• Hormonal changes: menstruation, menopause or pregnancy cause an increase in fluid retention due to all the hormonal fluctuations that occur in the woman's body.
• Injuries or trauma: when we suffer an injury it is common for inflammation to be caused. Let's take the case of a ankle sprain. Moments after a sprain the foot becomes inflamed. However, in this case this inflammation is not bad, it is a defense mechanism that the body has to make the ankle more stable. It is important that this inflammation is controlled and never excessive.
• Consumption of certain drugs: If when you take certain drugs you suffer a worsening of venous return, thus increasing fluid retention, it is recommended that you see your doctor.
• Inappropriate shoes or shoes. If you wear shoes or socks that are too tight, they cause some compression in the ankles and feet that can hinder venous return.
• Diabetes. Diabetics are more prone to fluid retention and foot infections.

how can it help you SIZEN with the swelling of your feet?

Just as there are many causes that can cause an increase in fluid in the lower part of the legs and feet, we can also reverse the situation by following a series of tips:

The first of them is use the presotherapy system SIZEN. Specifically, it is recommended to use mode 2. This choice is determined by its effectiveness in draining excess accumulated fluid, helping return circulation to do its job.

Operating mode 2 consists of inflating chamber 1, followed by inflating the second and so on until all are inflated, always maintaining the inflation pressure of the previous chambers. Once they are all inflated, they deflate at the same time, starting the process all over again.

In addition, for swelling of the feet and legs it is advisable to use the PANTS of SIZEN (boots that cover from the feet to the groin) or COMPLETE PANTS (which would cover from the feet to the navel). As, in addition, we can regulate the pressure and the minutes, we recommend that the pressure be between 30 and 40 mmHg and a duration between 30 and 60 minutes. Regarding the position, we should be in a supine position (lying face up) or in a sitting position with legs stretched out and feet at heart level.

In addition to pressotherapy, we can carry out a series of routines closely related to the causes that we talked about previously:

• we shall increase water intake (approximately 2 liters a day) and eat foods that contain it. A good hydration is worth little if you are a sedentary person so... Move! If you work many hours sitting down, try to move from time to time and take a short walk. On the contrary, if you work many hours standing up, try to also move your legs and promote return circulation.
• In the free time it is advisable to take walks and do sports since, if we do physical activity, we increase the speed of blood and lymphatic circulation with the increase in heart rate. This increase in velocity helps promote venous return.
• On the other hand, perform contrast baths (cold and hot water) or directly inserting the feet into cold water causes vasoconstriction in the veins (decrease in the caliber of a vessel), which is the opposite of vasodilation, the reason that causes swelling of the feet.
• finally, too we can put our feet up when we are sitting or sleeping so that excess fluid migrates to more proximal areas and is finally absorbed.

In conclusion, we can say that it is true that high temperatures cause an increase in the accumulation of fluid in the ankles and feet due to vasodilation of the vessels, but it is not the only cause that can cause them.

Thanks to presotherapy SIZEN and by changing a series of bad habits we can reverse this situation.