Edema (Fluid Retention)
Fluid retention affects both men and women, and can be an indicator of more serious illnesses, particularly later in life.
You may have edema, or fluid retention, if your face is puffy, while your hands, fingers, ankles, feet and stomach appear bloated.
Fluid retention is usually associated with hormonal imbalance, emotional stress and excessive physical activity. It may also be an indication of poor spleen and kidney function, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
Spleen and Kidney Function
The role of your spleen and kidney is to transform, transport and excrete water for your body. Oftentimes, factors such as hormonal imbalance, a diet high in sodium or low fluid intake may affect proper kidney function, causing fluid to remain and accumulate in the spaces between the skin and muscles. The affected areas may appear swollen and sometimes painful to the touch.
You may also experience backache, headache, fatigue, loose bowel movement, heavy menstrual flow, sudden weight gain or a feeling of coldness. Women who are overweight, who have recently given birth or who have undergone an operation run a high risk of fluid retention.
If your health professional suspects that you have this type of edema, you will be asked to take a series of tests so that he may see how your internal organs are functioning. In addition, an examination of your medical history and lifestyle will be made to determine whether you have nutritional deficiencies that could aggravate fluid retention.
It is important for your health professional to know your complete health profile for him to design an appropriate treatment plan for you.
Emotional Stress
Fluid retention may also be caused by negative feelings such as anger, frustration, resentment and depression. Chinese medicine believes that emotional stress not only affects your mood but also your liver. When you are feeling down, your liver may also become sluggish and unable to transform fluids that are found all over your body. If you have this kind of edema, you may experience breast tenderness and your fingers, feet and belly may look swollen.
Unlike in the edema relating to the kidney, your skin may spring right back when it is pressed using your thumb. TCM recommends acupuncture and herbal treatment to restore liver energy.
Aging and Stress – Not Perfect Partners
How many people do you know that unwind at the end of a stressful day by drinking alcohol? It might be a couple of scotches before dinner, a bottle of wine during dinner, or the ever-popular ‘night cap’ to help them get to sleep.
Alcohol in moderation is not a bad thing for most people, but when it is consumed to excess and used as a method for combating stress and inducing sleep, it is.
Life
Most of us, when we start out in our careers, are happy, healthy, optimistic and full of energy. But as the pressures of business, supporting families, mortgage commitments – life – take hold, many of us lose not just the joie de vivre, but our health suffers as well.
In the worst cases, people resort to prescription medications just to help them function on a day to day basis. Because this happens over time, quite often it’s not until we enter middle to old age, that the impacts on our minds and bodies become evident.
