The gold standard for edema is the water displacement method which is a technique for measuring edema of the limb.
You can test for edema at home by doing a simple examination of yourself.
When you have edema.
Your skin may look stretched and shiny.
Your skin feels tight or painful.
Your shoes and socks may be too tight.
The color of your skin in the swollen area is different than the rest of your body.
Your foot or leg feels heavy.
It is hard to move your ankle or toes.
Another way to test for edema at home is by gently pressing your finger on a swollen area of your skin which is the way doctors do it.
Doctors test an area of your body for edema by gently pressing their finger on a swollen area of your skin for five to 15 seconds (pitting test).
After they release pressure, a dimple (pit) will appear in your skin.
The pit indicates that there is fluid built up in your tissues.
The location and area you press to check for edema is on medial malleolus, the bony portion of the tibia, and the dorsum of the foot.
Pitting edema is described as an indentation that remains in the edematous area after pressure is applied.
It's location, timing, and extent are determined for treatment response.
Drinking more water and staying hydrated can reduce edema and prevent swelling.
Also reducing your sodium intake is another good way to reduce edema.
Reducing edema takes between 4 hours to 6 hours although it can take a few days or even a week in some cases to notice a significant reduction in the edema swelling.
The 4 types of edema are.
Peripheral edema which affects the feet, ankles, legs, hands, and arms.
Pulmonary edema which occurs when excess fluid collects in the lungs, making breathing difficult.
Cerebral edema which occurs in the brain.
Macular edema which is a serious complication of diabetic retinopathy.
Edema does not always mean heart failure although edema is a common sign and symptom of heart failure.
Edema can also be caused by other things such as being inactive and not moving around enough that leads to poor circulation.
Other conditions besides heart failure that can cause edema are kidney failure and liver failure.
Swollen feet does mean heart failure in some cases as heart failure can cause swelling in your feet as well as your hands and ankles.
In some cases swollen feet can be a sign of poor circulation even without heart failure but you should seek medical attention and let your doctor know about any swelling in the feet, legs and ankles.
Both of your legs can swell with congestive heart failure although in the beginning only one leg may sometimes swell.
The swelling of the leg with congestive heart failure is most noticeable in your ankles or the lower leg in the front where the bone or tibia is close to the skin.
You can get rid of fluid from congestive heart failure by taking diuretics and limiting sodium to 1,5000 to 2,000 milligrams or less per day.
The last stages of congestive heart failure are when you experience breathlessness during activity and at rest, persistent wheezing or coughing and they may produce pink mucus or white mucus.
The cough with the last stages of congestive heart failure may also be worse when lying down or at night.
The end with congestive heart failure will most often lead to memory loss, general feeling of disorientation and confusion as a result in the change in sodium levels in the body when the heart fails.
During end stage congestive heart failure the person also experiences a racing or throbbing heartbeat in response to the loss in heart pumping capacity which causes the heart to beat faster.
Congestive heart failure can cause the kidneys to shut down as congestive heart failure can also weaken the kidneys ability to remove fluid from the body.
Congestive heart failure is also a major cause of progressive chronic kidney disease which can also lead to kidney failure.
Heart failure can last from 1 year to 5 years before death.
Half of the people diagnosed with heart failure die within 5 years of diagnoses and people diagnosed with end stage heart failure die within 1 year or less of diagnoses.
The first signs of heart failure are a cough that does not go away or a cough which brings up pink mucus or white mucus with spots of blood, wheezing, reduced ability to exercise, rapid or irregular heartbeat, swelling in the feet, legs and ankles, fatigue and weakness and shortness of breath with activity or when lying down.
The life expectancy of someone with congestive heart failure is between 5 to 10 years depending on how bad the congestive heart failure is.
Dying of congestive heart failure is sometimes painful although not always.
Some people dying of congestive heart failure during the final stage may experience some pain or discomfort while dying and others may not experience any pain at all.
To treat pain in patients with congestive heart failure non opioids and opioids can be used such as paracetamol.
People who are getting or have congestive heart failure may experience symptoms such as Irregular or Rapid Heart Beats, Weakness, Fatigue, Dizziness, Water and Fluid Retention, white or pink blood-tinged phlegm, wheezing, Persistent Cough, shortness of breath and a reduce in your ability to exercise.
Another sign of congestive heart failure is swelling of your hands, feet, ankles and legs as well as congestion of your lungs due to fluid backing up into your lungs.
If you or someone are experiencing any of those symptoms then it could be a sign that congestive heart failure is coming or you or someone already has congestive heart failure.
So get to a doctor or the emergency room if you think you or someone may be having or has congestive heart failure.