Swelling Of The Hands: Causes, Treatment, Folk Remedies, Photos

2024 Author: Rachel Wainwright | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-15 19:51

Swelling of the hands: causes, treatment

The content of the article:

Why do the hands swell
1. Morning edema
2. Pregnancy and hormonal factors
3. Exchange violations
4. Diseases
How does swelling of the hands appear?
1. Internal diseases
2. Allergy
3. Inflammation
4. Blood vessel thrombosis
Diagnostics
What to do if your hands are swollen
1. Drug therapy
2. Lifestyle correction and general recommendations
3. Traditional methods of treating swelling of the hands
4. Water procedures
5. Phytotherapy
Video

Edema of the hands is often caused by diseases of the heart, liver, kidneys, and other organs and systems of the body. Non-pathological edema, as a rule, disappears within a few hours and is not associated with a deterioration in the general condition of the person. You can find out how the swelling of the brushes looks by looking at the photo.

Swelling of the hands can be a sign of serious pathology, therefore, if they appear, you should consult your doctor.

Why do the hands swell

The upper limbs can swell in hot weather, with a prolonged stay in a stuffy room with a large number of people and / or working office equipment (usually against the background of a person's water metabolism).

Swelling of the phalanges of the fingers, palms can be observed:

when injured (bruise, fracture, cut, burn, etc.);
in the event of an allergic reaction (often to household chemicals, cosmetics, exotic foods, pets can spread the allergen);
in case of circulatory disorders;
with an insect bite.

Morning edema

The most common causes of swollen hands in the morning include a large amount of liquid drunk before bedtime, the use of a large amount of certain foods (salted, smoked, fried), alcohol. Puffiness develops due to the fact that the used fluid does not have time to be excreted from the body and accumulates in soft tissues, including the upper extremities.

When the hands are swollen in the morning, the cause may be sleeping in an uncomfortable position, in which the hand is pinched by clothing or under body weight. Edema forms on the limb (left or right) on which the person slept, while the other hand remains in a normal state.

Pregnancy and hormonal factors

At a certain stage of pregnancy, a woman may notice slight swelling of the hands, which is aggravated by the later stages. This is a fairly common occurrence. Swelling of the hands during gestation is usually caused by hormonal changes in the woman's body and / or the pressure of the enlarging uterus on the internal organs and blood vessels.

In some women, the hands may swell before the onset of menstruation, this also happens due to changes in hormonal levels.

Exchange violations

Swelling of the hands can be observed in overweight and obese people, as well as in people who are hungry, which indicates a sharp decrease in the concentration of protein in the blood (hungry, or protein edema).

Diseases

Regularly occurring swelling of the hands can be caused by various diseases:

Diseases of the cardiovascular system are characteristic of elderly patients, but can also be found in children (congenital heart defects). Both hands swell.
Neoplasms that cause impaired venous or lymphatic outflow. As a rule, in this case, one limb swells.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine (Oppenheim's syndrome, etc.).
Joint inflammation (arthritis, arthrosis, gout).
Infectious diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (erysipelas).

How does swelling of the hands appear?

Most often, puffiness appears in the morning. The fact that the hands are swollen, the patient can notice with the naked eye. In addition, when you press your finger on the swollen area in the place of the proposed location of the bone, a depression will appear, which will not immediately return to its original state.

Internal diseases

Puffiness can develop in the morning and last until the evening, and hands can also swell in the evening or during a night's sleep. If the patient wears rings, it may be difficult or impossible to remove and / or put on if swelling develops. With a number of diseases, the swelling may not go away for several days or even weeks.

With various diseases, swelling of the hands is accompanied by other symptoms:

In case of liver disorders, patients may experience swelling of the eyelids in the morning.
With kidney pathologies, edema can also occur on the face (under the eyes) and on the legs.
In case of diseases of the cardiovascular system, in addition to the upper limbs, the patient's lower extremities may also swell, which is most noticeable when a person takes off his shoes in the evening, in which he walked for a long time. In addition, acrocyanosis may appear - blue nails, nasolabial triangle.
With lung diseases, there may be an increase in axillary lymph nodes (it can also be a sign of a neoplasm).

Swelling of the hands, accompanied by cyanosis (blue discoloration) of the nails in heart disease

Allergy

In case of an allergic reaction, in addition to puffiness, a person may have a rash on the skin, an itching, burning sensation. With the development of Quincke's edema, in addition to redness, swelling of the skin and a feeling of itching, the patient develops difficulty breathing, dizziness, impaired consciousness, nausea, vomiting.

Inflammation

With an infectious process at the site of edema, it is possible:

the occurrence of pain;
increased body temperature;
deterioration in general well-being.

Swelling on the hands can be painful to the touch, which is usually observed with the development of a pathological process against the background of arthritis, rheumatism. With these diseases, swelling can be observed for 1.5-2 months.

Blood vessel thrombosis

With blood vessel thrombosis, significantly pronounced edema is accompanied by intense pain at the site of the lesion. This pathology requires urgent measures.

Diagnostics

To make a diagnosis, first of all, laboratory tests are required (general and biochemical blood tests, general urine analysis, allergological tests, determination of tumor markers), ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, ECG. If necessary, the examination can be continued with an endocrinologist, allergist, cardiologist, traumatologist and other specialists.

What to do if your hands are swollen

With the development of physiological edema, treatment is not required, it is enough to eliminate the cause. Other cases require mandatory medical intervention, treatment is carried out by a doctor after establishing the exact cause. In some cases, a person needs hospitalization (for example, with Quincke's edema, the development of which can pose a serious danger to the patient's life).

Drug therapy

The table lists some medicines that can be prescribed for swelling of the upper extremities.

Medicine	Explanation
Antihistamines	With the development of pathology against the background of an allergic reaction
Antibacterial drugs	In the presence of an infectious process
Anti-inflammatory drugs	In case of swelling due to trauma, in the presence of an inflammatory process
Diuretic drugs	In the presence of kidney disorders, fluid retention in the body
Vitamin and mineral complexes	To replenish the lack of certain substances in the body

Before using any medicines and treatment methods, you need to consult a doctor, since swelling of the upper extremities can develop in various diseases that require a different approach to treatment.

Lifestyle correction and general recommendations

To normalize water and other types of exchange, the patient may be prescribed physiotherapy exercises. It is recommended to do exercises in the morning for 5-10 minutes, as well as in the evening (at least 2 hours before going to bed).

Also useful in the absence of contraindications are:

walking;
run;
a ride on the bicycle;
swimming.

If your hands are swollen due to a violation of water metabolism, you can improve a person's condition or prevent edema by using a number of measures:

remove all objects that can squeeze the wrists (watches, bracelets, etc.), which can normalize blood flow in the hands;
never carry heavy bags at the bend of the elbow (carry them in the arms or on the shoulder);
normalize nutrition (refuse to eat too salty, spicy foods, alcoholic beverages, it may be necessary to limit the amount of liquid drunk per day);
avoid drinking fluids before bedtime (preferably 2-3 hours before going to bed);
ventilate the living and / or work space as often as possible, especially in the warm season.

With a tendency to edema of the upper extremities, it is recommended to include kefir, cottage cheese, celery, viburnum and mountain ash-based drinks, cucumbers in the diet. A good decongestant effect is observed with daily consumption of a glass of pumpkin juice for 1 month.

To prevent the development of edema, an adequate regime of work and rest is recommended, avoiding stress, physical overload.

Before using any drugs, you must carefully read the instructions for use, which will reduce the risk of adverse effects. With the development of edema against the background of the use of medicines, you should, if possible, stop using them and consult a doctor.

Traditional methods of treating swelling of the hands

To eliminate puffiness, compresses, applications with drugs can be used. So, in case of bruises, applying any cold compress to the damaged area can prevent the spread of edema and relieve pain.

Water procedures

With swelling of the fingers, holding a contrast shower, as well as visiting a bath or sauna once every 2 weeks, can help.

Baths with sea salt can be effective for swelling. To carry out the procedure, you need to dissolve salt in prepared water at the rate of 300 g of the substance for a full (standard) bath of water. In this case, the water temperature should be 35-37 ° С. Sea salt is usually able to dissolve on its own (no need to stir the water).

Sea salt hand baths can help relieve puffiness in the hands

Phytotherapy

To eliminate swelling of the extremities at home, herbal medicine can be used, the following medicinal plants are used:

pharmaceutical camomile;
calendula;
birch leaves;
horsetail;
nettle;
St. John's wort;
parsley;
rosehip.

For the treatment of edema at home, you can use folk remedies made according to the following recipes:

Infusion of birch leaves. To prepare the product, 50 g of dry raw materials need to be poured with 500 ml of hot water, kept on a steam bath for 3-5 minutes. After that, the product is insisted for another 5-6 hours, wrapped in a towel. The infusion is taken 0.5 cups 3 times a day. You can also do hand baths with this product.
Rosehip infusion. To prepare this drink, you need to pour 2 tablespoons of fruits into a thermos, pour 500 ml of boiling water, leave for at least 20 minutes and drink as tea. Also, such an infusion can be used for baths and compresses that help relieve puffiness.
Mix of juices. To get rid of puffiness, you can use a mixture of lemon, carrot and cucumber juices (0.5 cups each). The liquid should be divided into 3 parts and drunk, diluted 1: 1 with clean drinking water, 3 times a day.
Infusion of pine buds. In case of puffiness, you can use a remedy for the preparation of which 1 teaspoon of pine buds is poured with 1 glass of water, brought to a boil, removed from heat and insisted for 2 hours. The remedy is drunk throughout the day.