Edema in Legs: The Real Reason & Fastest Cure
# Edema Explained: The Ultimate 2025 Guide to Understanding, Managing, and Preventing Fluid Retention - Swelling in the legs, ankles, feet, hands, or even the face is something millions of people experience every single day. Most brush it off as “my feet are just swollen from the heat” or “I ate too much salt yesterday.” In many cases, they’re right. In others, that same swelling – medically known as edema – is the first visible warning sign of heart failure, kidney dysfunction, liver disease, blood clots, or lymphatic problems. ### What Edema Actually Is (And Why It Happens) At its simplest, edema is excess interstitial fluid – the liquid that normally bathes every cell in your body – accumulating in the wrong place. Normally, fluid moves out of capillaries into tissues and is efficiently returned by veins and the lymphatic system. When that balance breaks, swelling occurs. The human body contains about 42 liters of fluid. Roughly 28 liters stay inside cells, 11 liters circulate in bl...