Cure for a Peripheral Edema

While there are no definitive cures for peripheral edema, there are a variety of home remedies and herbs that have proven successful in reducing leg, ankle and foot swelling.

Treatment

• Elevate the legs above hip level.

  The easiest and most successful treatment is elevation and exercise. If you are tied to a desk all day, get up every hour and walk around to stimulate the circulation in your legs. When relaxing at home, put your feet up, preferably above hip level for best results. Wear support stockings. Most important, try to cut down on salt, too much of it in the diet exacerbates the swelling.

Remedies

• Herbs have been successful in relieving peripheral edema symptoms.

  Many sufferers have reported successful relief from using dandelion root. Rich in potassium, it helps balance salt intake and reduce swelling. Other popular herbs among peripheral edema sufferers are gingko biloba, which decreases the pain associated with edema; horse chestnut, which improves the veins ability to pump the blood back to the heart; and buchu, which decreases water retention.

Causes

• Sitting for long periods of time can cause peripheral edema.

  Most often the cause of peripheral edema is simply too little exercise, too much sitting, and aging, but sometimes the condition can be a sign of more serious things: hypertension, congestive heart failure or even kidney disease.