Swelling of the hands in bedridden patients: what is dangerous and how to treat

Issues discussed in the material:

What diseases lead to swelling of the hands?
What drugs are prescribed to treat swelling of the hands?
What methods of physiotherapeutic treatment help eliminate swelling of the hands in bedridden patients?
In what cases should you resort to surgery to eliminate swelling?
What care is required for an elderly bedridden person with swelling?

When a person remains in bed for a long time, the functioning of his internal organs and systems is disrupted. This is explained by the fact that the lying position is unnatural for the body. One of the undesirable consequences of prolonged bed rest is swelling. What is the reason for swelling of the hands in bedridden patients, and how can this be avoided? The answers are in our article.

How to treat swelling of the hands in bedridden patients

Taking medications is the main method of treating edema in bedridden patients. Often the use of pharmaceutical drugs is supplemented by conservative methods - tight bandaging and physiotherapy. Let's look at each of the therapy methods in detail.

Drug treatment.

As a rule, drug treatment is prescribed to combat edema in bedridden patients. Medicines are selected depending on the cause of the problem. To eliminate swelling of the hands in bedridden patients, the following drugs are used:

Antibiotics. They are prescribed for injuries of the upper extremities, infectious diseases of the liver, kidneys, small intestines, and erysipelas of the hands.
Antiparasitic drugs to eliminate parasitic diseases of the liver, intestines, lymphatic vessels (filariasis), and lungs.
Anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce pain and swelling in bedridden patients.
Anticoagulants. They are used to reduce blood clotting and prevent blood clots. Such drugs are used to combat swelling of the hands in heart failure, obstruction of the subclavian vein and superior vena cava syndrome.
Fibrinolytics are drugs for destroying blood clots in blood vessels. They must be taken by people suffering from Paget-Schroetter syndrome and superior vena cava syndrome.
Diuretics help remove excess fluid through the kidneys. They are often prescribed for Parhon's syndrome, gestosis, heart pathologies, superior vena cava syndrome and hypooncotic edema (for diseases of the intestines, kidneys or liver).
Antihypertensive drugs are prescribed for cardiac pathologies, kidney diseases and gestosis, to lower blood pressure.
Vasopressin receptor blockers interfere with the binding of this hormone to its receptors, which are located on kidney cells. Vasopressin affects the kidneys in such a way that they retain and accumulate fluid in the body. Vasopressin receptor blockers are very often used to combat swelling of the hands in bedridden patients suffering from Parhon's syndrome.
Hormonal drugs are effective if swelling in bedridden patients is caused by myxedema or kidney damage due to diabetes.
For heart failure of any origin, cardiac glycosides are recommended. Drugs in this group normalize heart function.
Antihistamines act as blockers of the interaction of histamine (an allergic active substance) and its receptors in various tissues, which reduces the body's allergic reaction and reduces swelling in bedridden patients.

Physiotherapy for edema in bedridden patients.

Physiotherapy is a method of additional therapy aimed at reducing swelling of the hands in bedridden patients, which is used together with medical or surgical treatment methods. Physiotherapy helps reduce inflammation, swelling and pain in the affected limbs. The effect of physiotherapeutic procedures helps to dilate blood vessels, improve and accelerate the outflow of accumulated fluid. When treating swelling of the hands in bedridden patients, the following procedures are usually prescribed:

Electrophoresis with drugs. What the effect of electrophoresis will be depends on the drugs that are administered with its help. The drug is prescribed depending on the cause of swelling of the hands in bedridden patients.
Low-frequency magnetic therapy is used to achieve vasoactive, analgesic, decongestant and trophic effects.
UHF therapy helps achieve vasodilating, muscle relaxant, trophic and anti-inflammatory effects on the body.
SUV irradiation has an immunoregulatory, anti-inflammatory, and bactericidal effect on the affected areas. Such procedures are prescribed to treat swelling of the hands due to injury or erysipelas. Sometimes such manipulations are resorted to after surgery on the upper extremities.
Low-intensity SVM therapy produces an analgesic, vasodilator and anti-inflammatory effect, so it is sometimes used to combat cervical osteochondrosis, which is the cause of Steinbrocker syndrome. Such procedures are prescribed to stimulate proper functioning of the thyroid gland and reduce swelling caused by the pathological processes of myxedema.

Tight bandaging of swollen limbs in bedridden patients.

This treatment method is one of the types of compression therapy for hand swelling in patients. The effect of bandaging for swelling of the hands in bedridden patients occurs due to compression of the skin and blood vessels from the outside. Large volumes of intercellular fluid accumulate in the superficial tissues. After bandaging, it cannot resist the pressure of the elastic material and is forced to go back into the circulatory and lymphatic system, which reduces swelling in bedridden patients.

Surgical methods for treating swelling of the hands.

Surgery is not the dominant treatment for edema in bedridden patients. This method is relevant even in advanced and difficult situations, when medications and physiotherapy do not make sense. During surgery for swelling of the hands, tumors and cysts of various locations are removed. These formations can compress the vessels that supply the upper extremities (in case of tumors of the mediastinal organs or lungs), affect nerve endings (in case of tumors of the spine, lungs) or cause hypooncotic edema (in case of oncology of the kidneys, liver).

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The leg swells and hurts: causes associated with diseases

Not everyone treats such a problem as swelling in the legs responsibly. The causes and treatment, however, can be much more serious than simple fatigue or excessive fluid intake - swelling of the legs can be both a concomitant symptom of the disease and a primary one.

This symptom may indicate the presence of a number of diseases in the body:

renal pathologies - they are characterized by impaired urination, pain in the lumbar region, high blood pressure;
heart failure - manifested by increased heart rate, shortness of breath, constant weakness and high fatigue of the patient;
diseases of bones and joints - accompanied by pain in the upper and lower extremities, limitation of motor function;
diseases of the nervous system - patients with nervous pathologies complain of movement disorders, speech and coordination disorders, involuntary muscle contractions, tics, shudders, decreased tactile sensitivity, headaches, behavioral disorders and insomnia;
varicose veins and CVI (chronic venous insufficiency): a distinctive feature of venous pathologies is the appearance of swelling of the legs as the first signs. At first they are insignificant, but as the disease progresses they increase. Swelling of the legs associated with varicose veins or CVI is characterized by a decrease or complete disappearance after a night's sleep and an increase throughout the day. Over time, swelling is complemented by bursting pain and night cramps of the calf muscles, the appearance of small blue-red spider veins on the skin, and later dark blue and tortuous veins. In advanced stages, the skin of the lower leg becomes dry and shiny, pigmented brown islands appear, preceding trophic ulcers.

Any of the above diseases can manifest as symptoms such as swelling in the legs. The causes and treatment of edema are determined by an experienced phlebologist at the Yusupov Hospital based on the results of a comprehensive examination using the clinic’s modern diagnostic equipment.

How can you help a patient with edema?

Why do the hands of bedridden patients swell? Swelling usually appears after a long recovery period, when a person has been immobilized for a long time. Sufficient measures should be taken to prevent the development of hand edema in bedridden patients. But this is not at all easy to do. It is necessary to explain to the patient the need to change position. If he cannot move on his own, then it is necessary to turn the patient from one side to the other, raise his legs (10 - 15 cm), placing a bolster or pillow.

A sitting position is best suited for the prevention of edema, but bedridden patients with a hip fracture should absolutely not be seated, even for short periods of time. In old age, the fusion of bone tissue and cartilage occurs slowly, and they are very easy to damage.

In addition, to prevent the formation of edema in bedridden patients, it is recommended to massage the legs. It will prevent the appearance of bedsores, swelling and reduce pathological manifestations if they exist. Massage procedures should be carried out on a regular basis and preferably several times a day (morning and evening).

It should be ensured that the bedridden patient wears comfortable clothing that does not press or rub the skin. Bedding (especially sheets) should be straightened, without folds. For bedridden patients, sheets with an elastic band are ideal; they spread completely over the mattress and do not wrinkle or slip.

Patients with swelling of the extremities should never be given diuretic medications or infusions without a doctor’s prescription. This can negatively affect the functioning of the kidneys and provoke even greater swelling due to the accumulation of excess fluid in the body. Diuretics are prescribed only in critical situations, if the patient has more than 5 - 10 liters of excess fluid in the body, and it is necessary to remove it urgently.

If the hands of bedridden patients swell due to a specific ailment, then it is necessary to treat it first. As a rule, drug therapy is used for this, which can only be prescribed by a doctor. To prevent the patient’s condition from worsening, all the recommendations described above must be followed.

Nutrition plays an important role in the health of a bedridden patient. If a person is completely immobilized, he should eat no more than 2 grams of salt per day. And ideally, foods and dishes prepared for a bedridden patient are not recommended to be salted at all. It is salt that leads to the accumulation of excess fluid and the appearance of swelling of the arms, legs and torso.

In addition, it is better not to drink a lot of water and other drinks. Excessive drinking can also cause swelling of the hands in healthy people, and even more so in bedridden patients. The total volume of fluid consumed includes not only pure water, but also infusions, broths, juices and teas.

If a bedridden patient has severe swelling of the arms, which increases in size, emergency assistance must be called urgently. In this case, the patient requires hospitalization and consultation with qualified specialists.

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Heaviness and swelling in the legs: lifestyle-related causes

There are certain factors why swelling and heaviness in the legs appear. Reasons may be related to lifestyle:

if a person consumes an excessive amount of liquid, the excess of which the vessels are not able to retain. As a result, fluid enters the intercellular space, which leads to its accumulation in the peripheral parts;
the occurrence of edema may be associated with compression of the veins and deterioration of blood flow due to prolonged sitting on a soft and low chair, ottoman, etc.;
if a person sits with his legs crossed most of the time. This position threatens to impair blood circulation in the supporting leg, on which the upper leg presses, as well as compressing the veins in the lower leg, disrupting normal blood flow;
Obese and overweight people often complain of the appearance of edema;
swelling may appear after too intense and uncontrolled exercise in certain sports, for example after running, walking, static exercises, yoga with stretching, strength exercises.

If the listed factors that caused heaviness in the legs and swelling are the causes, treatment may consist of their elementary exclusion.