Why do feet swell?
Jul 11, 2010
THE feet are not for just wearing shoes and getting you to your desired destination. They may turn out to be an indication of your general health.
By Vision Reporter
THE feet are not for just wearing shoes and getting you to your desired destination. They may turn out to be an indication of your general health.
Dr Misaki Wayengera, a molecular pathologist at Makerere University, says: “Feet, like the palms, can speak for countless disorders that are not necessarily in the feet but manifest there.â€
Swollen feet could, for instance be an indication of liver problems.
Furthermore, kidney problems can also cause swollen feet, since kidneys are concerned with regulation of water. Elephantiasis could also cause swollen feet.
Henry Bukenya, a general practitioner with Trinity Medical Centre, explains: “With elephantiasis, there is enlargement of the feet and connective tissues caused by obstruction of the lymph vessels.â€
There is inflammation and thickening of the walls of the feet’s vessels and eventually blockage, hence the swelling of the feet.
Gout is another disease which may be signaled by swelling of the feet. “The swelling of the feet take a characteristic pattern of the joints, with the big toes bent outwards,†Wayengera notes.
He adds that the feet are at the lowest point of gravity. With disorders, like the kidney’s failure to control body fluids, the extra fluids will drain downwards and end up in the feet and cause swelling.
In pregnancy, a number of women experience swelling of the feet.
“This is usually in the late stages of pregnancy.
The baby’s head presses onto the vessels meant to drain the fluids away from the lower part of the body,†Wayengera explains.
Bukenya advises that pregnant women should wear sandals as opposed to high heels because sandals help in circulation of blood.
Wayengera says feet insensitive to pain and temperature could be a sign of diabetes and circulatory disease. He adds that sweaty feet could be a sign of hyperthyroidism, a condition in which an overactive thyroid gland produces excessive amount of thyroid hormones in the blood.
“Uncontrolled diabetes can damage your nerves. If you have damaged nerves in your legs and feet, you might not feel heat, cold, or pain,†he says.
Besides the feet, Wayengera says, when toe nails are serrated, curved in or brittle, it could be due to inadequate iron intake.
This is mostly in women as a result of heavy menstrual cycles. Wayengera adds that clubbed toe nails may indicate a chronic respiratory disease.
THE feet are not for just wearing shoes and getting you to your desired destination. They may turn out to be an indication of your general health.
Dr Misaki Wayengera, a molecular pathologist at Makerere University, says: “Feet, like the palms, can speak for countless disorders that are not necessarily in the feet but manifest there.â€
Swollen feet could, for instance be an indication of liver problems.
Furthermore, kidney problems can also cause swollen feet, since kidneys are concerned with regulation of water. Elephantiasis could also cause swollen feet.
Henry Bukenya, a general practitioner with Trinity Medical Centre, explains: “With elephantiasis, there is enlargement of the feet and connective tissues caused by obstruction of the lymph vessels.â€
There is inflammation and thickening of the walls of the feet’s vessels and eventually blockage, hence the swelling of the feet.
Gout is another disease which may be signaled by swelling of the feet. “The swelling of the feet take a characteristic pattern of the joints, with the big toes bent outwards,†Wayengera notes.
He adds that the feet are at the lowest point of gravity. With disorders, like the kidney’s failure to control body fluids, the extra fluids will drain downwards and end up in the feet and cause swelling.
In pregnancy, a number of women experience swelling of the feet.
“This is usually in the late stages of pregnancy.
The baby’s head presses onto the vessels meant to drain the fluids away from the lower part of the body,†Wayengera explains.
Bukenya advises that pregnant women should wear sandals as opposed to high heels because sandals help in circulation of blood.
Wayengera says feet insensitive to pain and temperature could be a sign of diabetes and circulatory disease. He adds that sweaty feet could be a sign of hyperthyroidism, a condition in which an overactive thyroid gland produces excessive amount of thyroid hormones in the blood.
“Uncontrolled diabetes can damage your nerves. If you have damaged nerves in your legs and feet, you might not feel heat, cold, or pain,†he says.
Besides the feet, Wayengera says, when toe nails are serrated, curved in or brittle, it could be due to inadequate iron intake.
This is mostly in women as a result of heavy menstrual cycles. Wayengera adds that clubbed toe nails may indicate a chronic respiratory disease.