What causes fluid retention?

If you are on your feet or sit down all day, you most probably experience leg stiffness and pain, as well as fluid retention. This is due to: tension build up on your calf, thigh and hip muscles; poor functioning of the leg veins; and inadequate leg lymph drainage.

Your calf, thigh and hip muscle fibres can go into a spasm either due to inactivity (e.g. sitting down all day) or due to continuous, static contraction (e.g. standing up all day). However, the other two causes of heavy, tired, swollen legs, i.e. lymphatic and vein dysfunction, are caused by several factors, the most important of which are described below. You may skip this paragraph if biology is not your favourite subject!

15 physiological reasons to develop fluid retention

1. Vein wall / lymphatic vessel wall weakness and fragility: veins walls are partially damaged, and herniate or leak blood into the tissues
   
2. Poor muscle tone of the vein walls: veins walls cannot effectively pump blood upwards
   
3. Valve failure on veins and lymph vessels: veins valves herniate leading to blood or lymph pooling or even flowing downwards
   
4. Low interstitial fluid turnover due to dehydration: tissues hold on to their water due to scarcity, therefore water doesn't even leave the tissues
5. High blood viscosity: makes blood flow through small veins and capillaries difficult
   
6. Constipation: obstructs blood and lymph flow in the abdominal area leading blood and lymph pooling on the legs
   
7. Pregnancy: works in the same way as constipation; in addition increases fluid retention of fluid due to excess estrogen production
   
8. Chronic low-grade inflammation: all inflammation by definition increases water retention
   
9. Impact injury: damage to veins and lymph vessels
   
10. Congestive heart failure: the heart cannot process blood fast enough and water is literally dumped in the tissues to reduce heart load (contraindication to lymphatic drainage massage, the heart must be treated instead)
    
11. Kidney dysfunction: the kidneys retain sodium and water which is then accumulates in the tissues
    
12. Post-operative lymph gland removal / other injury to the lymphatics, veins and lymph glands: removed glands call for special techniques to remove excess water from tissues (not provided by us)
13. Excessive estrogen in the system: causes water retention
14. Excessive cortisol in the system: causes water retention
15. Albumin (blood protein) shortage: water cannot be carried away from the tissues to the blood due to the lack of this transporting protein
    

Lifestyle and genetics are responsible for most of the above physical changes that lead to fluid retention

There are several reasons for the deterioration of function and integrity of the lymph vessels and veins. Heredity (your genes) is one factor we think we cannot affect, but this could not be further from the truth. "Bad" genes usually need bad lifestyle to be expressed, and vice versa, "good" genes need a good lifestyle to be fully expressed. This practically means that you even if you have excellent genes, a poor lifestyle based on stress, inactivity and junk food, will still lead to fluid retention. Or, on the other hand, even you have poor genes, an excellent lifestyle will probably lead to very little or no water retention.

15 lifestyle factors that typically lead to water retention, switching off "good" genes and turning on "bad" genes

1. Lack of blood vessel nourishing nutrients: protein, antioxidants, flavonoids and essential fatty acids (EFAs)
2. Toxins, anti-nutrients and inflammation-producing foods that damage the blood and lymph vessels or impair their natural function: saturated fat, oxidised fatty acids, hydrogenated fats, sugar, excessive alcohol and highly processed foods
3. Prolonged standing up, sitting down or crossing of the knees
4. Food intolerances or allergies that lead to low grade chronic inflammation
5. Leaky gut syndrome that allows undigested food particles, bacterial toxins and other substances to enter the circulation and irritate/inflame the lymph and blood vessels
6. The contraceptive pill, that increases blood viscosity and therefore capillary blood flow
7. Lack of sleep, that causes vein wall muscular tension and impairs vessel tissue repair
8. Lack of exercise, essential for lymphatic and vein function; constipation that causes vein and lymph vessel obstruction
9. Pregnancy (works in the same way as constipation, but in addition leads to extra fluid retention due to the action of oestrogen)
10. Smoking that causes vasoconstriction and blood vessel damage
11. Excessive caffeine which in the long run leads to low tissue water turnover and therefore toxin and waste product accumulation and poor lymph drainage
12. Not drinking enough water has exactly the same effect as excessive caffeine has on your tissues, i.e. poor fluid drainage leading to water retention
13. Certain medicines, especially cortisone (corticosteroids), lead to water retention due to their action on the kidney, blood vessels and other tissues of the body
14. Chronic stress has the same effect as cortisone drugs, just milder, as it leads to excessive and chronic cortisol release
15. Excessive weight puts an enormous pressure on your vessels, as well as contributing to low grade inflammation.

As you can see, with today's unhealthy lifestyle, there are plenty of reasons to develop fluid retention, and therefore it's no wonder that most women suffer from it to a greater or lesser degree. The good news is that, since fluid retention is caused by an unnatural lifestyle, it can also be reduced by following a natural lifestyle and working with natural treatments.

What is the connection between water retention and cellulite?

Most of the factors that cause fluid retention may also cause loss of skin firmness, low-grade inflammation, toxin accumulation, connective tissue deterioration and superficial fat accumulation, literally affecting all aspects of cellulite, so usually fluid retention is inherently linked to the problem of cellulite for most women. Treatments that deal specifically with water retention may not be able to reduce cellulite though, because cellulite is more than water retention. However, a good cellulite treatment should always effectively address fluid retention as well as all the other aspects of cellulite.

How to reduce water retention

The most popular solution to the problem, manual lymphatic drainage does help drain the excess lymph from the legs to the upper body and to the heart, but without doing anything to help your body become better at draining that excess fluid itself in the future. So you are left with the need to have weekly treatments year in, year out.

Normal massage (such as swedish massage, holistic massage etc) and sports massage (also known as deep tissue massage or remedial massage) also help a bit, but they don't directly affect the veins and lymph vessels.

Keeping your legs elevated when you lie down and sleep is a good idea, as well as putting your legs on a stool when you sit down.

Wearing compression garments (also known as compression tights or compression socks) offers some temporary help but it is not a good idea to use them in the long term as constant compression inhibits arterial flow and insulates your superficial tissues from mechanical stimulation, so in the long run may cause connective tissue deterioration and blood / lymphatic vessel weakening.

The above approaches are pretty good at treating the symptoms and offering you valuable relief. However, the problem with all them is that they only treat the symptoms – they don’t affect any single one of the several causes of fluid retention listed above. Some causes of water retention may not be able to be treated, as in the case of congestive heart failure, surgical removal of lymph glands after cancer, or genetic conditions. However, there are five things you can do to address most of the causes of fluid retention:

The 5 most important things you can do to prevent, reduce and contain fluid retention are:

1. Do loads of exercise, followed whenever possible by lying down with your legs elevated
2. Live a healthy lifestyle, free of smoking, excessive alcohol, the pill and unnecessary medication and make sure you sleep enough to give your body a chance to repair itself
3. Follow a super-healthy diet (rich in omega-3 fatty acids, lean protein, flavonoids and antioxidants, and poor in sugar, saturated fat, salt), and taking supplements that are specific to fluid retention and suitable to your specific needs and whole body health. The Lipo Consultation can help you in identifying those specific needs and will provide you with all the advice you need to strengthen your blood and lymph vessel walls, decrease blood viscosity, reduce constipation, boost your detoxification capacity (including liver, kidney and gut detoxification), decrease inflammation, treat leaky gut syndrome, avoid food intolerances and improve your overall health.
4. Have specialised treatments that are specific to the lymph and blood vessels and provide not just temporary lymphatic drainage, but also lymphatic stimulation, circulation enhancement and blood vessel strengthening that will enable your body to actively drain excess fluid more efficiently in the future, not just immediately after the treatment.
   
5. Using a good cream that offers all the nutrients your blood and lymphatic vessels need to be stronger and more efficient in draining excess fluid: vitamins, antioxidants, flavonoids, proteins, peptides, aminoacids, phospholipids, fruit extracts and botanical extracts specific to circulation and lymphatic drainage enhancement.

The Lipo Active Cellulite Wrap for instant relief from water retention

In addition to the above five things you can do to work on the causes of fluid retention, you can also try our Lipo Active Cellulite Wrap to instantly relieve leg fatigue, swelling, heaviness and muscle tension and ease pressure on varicose and thread veins. The Lipo Wrap is a unique combination of pressotherapy lymphatic drainage combined with an advanced body wrap based on the therapeutic properties of the Lipo Actives.

In most cases the Lipo Wrap is much more effective than manual lymphatic drainage because it treats both legs at the same time, and at their entirety, by no less than 20 leg compression compartments that rhythmically pump fluid out of your legs and towards the upper body. From there the excess fluid, rich in toxins, waste products and lactic acid from your legs, is “pumped” towards the heart (assisted by a further 3 abdominal compression compartments) from where it travels to the kidneys and liver to be eliminated from the system in the form of urine and faeces.

This is basically like having 26 pairs of hands treating your legs at the same time - in a deeply relaxing and effective manner. And in addition to effective lymphatic drainage, the pressotherapy lymphatic drainage enhances the absorption of the Lipo Actives, which in turn further act on both the causes and symptoms of your fluid retention, by providing several natural active ingredients that nourish and stimulate your blood and lymph vessels. As far as lymph drainage treatments, it doesn't get better than this!

Fluid retention and pregnancy

It is normal to have mild fluid retention during pregnancy – this is a preventative measure that nature provides to guard you from excess blood pressure drop in case of blood loss after injury. However, it is unnatural and unhealthy to suffer from excessive fluid retention during pregnancy, which is caused by today’s unnatural lifestyle choices both before and during pregnancy.

The best advice we have to give to women suffering from fluid retention during pregnancy is to exercise as much as you can (always complying with your doctor's advice), eat loads of vegetables, berry fruits and oily fish, avoid sweets and excessive carbs (no, your baby doesn't need so much bread or sugar!) and receive weekly massages specific to lymphatic drainage and lymphatic stimulation. Some body wraps are safe to use during pregnancy and can offer some temporary relief. In addition, pressotherapy devices, also safe during pregnancy in most cases (always check with your doctor first), are very effective in lymphatic drainage and can be either used daily at home or at a clinic / beauty salon.

The Lipo Active Cellulite Massage and the Lipo Active Cellulite Wrap can offer valuable help in your case. They are effectively used during pregnancy to help control excessive fluid retention and cellulite formation that usually accompanies pregnancy today. Both treatments are absolutely safe during pregnancy - they have been used on dozens of women form the first all the way to the ninth month of pregnancy.

However, it is even better to enter pregnancy fit and slim and definitely without fluid retention, as during pregnancy it is bound to get worse. So if you plan to have a baby, invest some time in getting fitter, losing weight and improving your diet.

Important note

For LipoTherapeia to do it’s magic you need to have intact lymphatic glands – if you had had your glands removed after ovarian or breast cancer LipoTherapeia is not suitable for you. However, you may benefit in both cases from the Lipo Consultation and the Lipo Actives that can greatly assist you in managing water levels in your body more efficiently.