Oedema (swelling in the body)
Oedema is swelling caused by extra fluid trapped in the body's tissues — most often in the feet, ankles and legs. Swelling from a weak heart or from kidneys that are not working well is serious and needs a doctor.
- Swelling often leaves a dent after you press it with a finger — this is called pitting
- Trapped fluid can raise body weight quickly, over days to weeks
- In heart failure, a weight gain of more than 1 to 1.5 kg in a day, or 2 kg in a week, is a reason to call the doctor
- Swelling in one leg that came on within the last three days needs a check for a blood clot
Source: MedlinePlus (swelling; heart failure — fluids and diuretics); Cleveland Clinic; Ely et al., J Am Board Fam Med
What is Oedema (swelling in the body)?
Water moves all the time between the tiny blood vessels and the spaces around the cells. Normally the same amount goes back as comes out, and the kidneys pass the extra as urine. Oedema happens when fluid leaks out faster than it can be cleared, or when the body holds on to too much salt and water.
Some swelling is local and simple — after an injury, or feet that swell after a long day standing. Swelling all over the body, or swelling from a weak heart, kidney disease or liver disease, is a sign of an illness that a doctor must look after.
What are the symptoms?
- Puffy, swollen feet, ankles or legs — sometimes the hands, face or belly
- Skin that looks shiny and stretched, or keeps a dent after pressing
- Tight shoes, rings or clothes
- Weight gain from trapped fluid
- With a weak heart: breathlessness, worse on lying flat
- With kidney trouble: passing less urine, puffiness round the eyes
What causes it, and who is more likely to get it?
Heart, kidney and liver
Veins and circulation
- Weak leg veins (venous insufficiency) — the most common cause in older adults
- A blood clot in a leg vein
- Long hours of standing or sitting
Other causes
- Pregnancy
- Too much salt, and poor nutrition
- Some medicines, such as steroids and some blood pressure and diabetes medicines
- Long-standing thyroid disease
How is it found?
Any swelling without a clear reason should be checked by a doctor. The doctor presses the swelling, asks when it started and whether it is on one side or both, and looks for its cause in the heart, kidneys, liver or veins.
Blood tests, kidney and liver function
Show how well the kidneys and liver are working, and the salts and protein in the blood.
Urine test
Can show protein leaking out through the kidneys.
ECG and echocardiogram
An electrical tracing and an ultrasound of the heart, to see how well it pumps.
Chest X-ray
Can show fluid in or around the lungs.
Ultrasound of the leg veins
Used when one leg swells suddenly, to look for a clot.
A neurotherapist first makes sure a doctor knows about the swelling and has found its cause. Then the therapist checks Liv° and Mu°, reads the kidney and heart reports, asks how much urine is passed and whether it has been held back, and asks about every tablet — especially water tablets, which are never stopped.
How Neurotherapy sees Oedema (swelling in the body)
LMNT's plan for swelling in the body — whether it comes from the heart or from kidneys that are not working properly — comes from an observation from practice, and it has an order. (10) Pan is given first, for three treatments; this often brings benefit. If full benefit is not obtained, the Kidney Clear treatment that fits the body is given afterwards.
The order LMNT follows
- Doctor firstthe cause of the swelling is found and treated by the doctor
- (10) Pan × 3given first, for three treatments
- Kidney Clearonly if full benefit did not come — the form and grade the body will take
- Rt. Ov.where swelling has stayed 24 hours because urine is held back
Which Kidney Clear is 'appropriate' is read from the body, as always in LMNT: Kidney Clear leans to the acid side (more pain at Mu°, hard motions), Ulta Kidney Clear to the other side (more pain at Liv°, loose motions, morning swelling that goes, high BP). A frail, elderly or very chronic patient gets the Mild Kidney Clear.
If the stomach, the lungs and the kidneys work properly, then disease simply cannot come.
Neurotherapy treatment for Oedema (swelling in the body), step by step
Examine first
The therapist checks Liv° and Mu°, reads the heart and kidney reports, and asks about urine, breathlessness, weight and every medicine. Swelling that has no diagnosis yet goes to a doctor first.
(10) Pan, three treatments — first
LMNT gives (10) Pan × 3 treatments first, for swelling in the body from the heart or from kidneys that are not working properly.
Then the right Kidney Clear
If full benefit is not obtained, the appropriate Kidney Clear follows — Kidney Clear, Ulta Kidney Clear or Mild Kidney Clear, at the grade the body will take.
Urine held back: Rt. Ov.
Where swelling has stayed in the body for 24 hours because urine is held back, LMNT uses Rt. Ov. to help reduce the swelling and bring on urine — unless one of its bars applies. Urine that has stopped also needs a doctor the same day.
Points and formulas used
(10) Pan
The pancreas point at the count given first, for three treatments, in swelling from the heart or the kidneys.
Open →Kidney Clear
Works the two kidney points and the acid–alkali balance, in four grades — given after (10) Pan if full benefit has not come.
Works through
Open →Ulta Kidney Clear
The reversed Kidney Clear, for the body that shows more pain at Liv°, loose motions, morning swelling that goes, or high BP.
Open →Mild Kidney Clear
The gentle Kidney Clear, for a frail, elderly or very chronic patient.
Works through
Open →Never do this
- Call 108/112 or go to hospital at once for: breathlessness, especially when lying flat; chest pain; coughing up pink, frothy spit; very little or no urine; swelling with confusion or drowsiness; or sudden swelling of the face, lips or throat.
- Sudden weight gain — more than 1 to 1.5 kg in a day or 2 kg in a week — in a heart patient means calling the doctor the same day. One leg suddenly swollen, hot and painful may be a clot: do not press or rub it — see a doctor at once. Thrombosis
- Never stop or skip water tablets (diuretics), and never change the salt or fluid limits your doctor has set.
- Rt. Ov. is not given in cancer, or in the teenage years. Teenage years
- In heart disorders, LMNT never gives (10), (20) or (30) Medulla, Lu + Sh, Swt, Katka, Loveleen, Thymus or (4) Thrd. In kidney disorders it never gives Th, Th + Ch, Spl, Lymph, Armpits, Ton 'P' or Ton 'T'. Where a doctor has found kidney failure, the kidney page's bars decide whether Kidney Clear can be given at all. Kidney failure
- Cancer: if the person has cancer, (10) Pan, Thymus, Pit, Lu + Sh, Rt. Ov / Lt. Ov and (30) Medulla are never given — the therapist changes the plan.
- Keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care, never instead of it.
From Ayurveda and the kitchen
Test yourself
What research says
- Strong evidence
Swelling builds up when fluid filters out of the small blood vessels faster than the lymph system can carry it away. Heart failure, kidney disease, liver disease and some medicines are among the causes; weak leg veins are the most common cause in older adults, and swelling that came on within the last three days needs a check for a blood clot.
No clinical trial of Neurotherapy in oedema has been published yet. Improvements reported by neurotherapists are clinical observations.
For you
Heart patients
Weigh yourself every morning on the same scale, after using the toilet and before eating. A quick rise in weight is often the first sign of fluid — tell your doctor.
Kidney patients
Follow the fluid and salt limits your kidney doctor has set, and watch how much urine you pass.
Anyone with new swelling
Swelling in one leg, swelling all over, or swelling with breathlessness is never 'just water'. Get it checked.
This page explains; it does not diagnose. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care — keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed, and see a doctor for any new or severe symptom.