How to Deal with Lower Body Swelling
After a dance-packed day, it’s not uncommon for your lower body to be swollen. This phenomenon isn’t anything to worry about, but it can be uncomfortable. Luckily, there are a number of easy fixes—and ways to prevent swelling altogether. Dance Spirit turned to Jessica Lassiter, DPT, OCS, ATC, CMPT, a physical therapist and certified athletic trainer in NYC, for a crash course on how to stop the swell.
What It Is
“Swelling happens when your tissues retain water,” explains Lassiter. “The lower body is especially prone to swelling because of gravity.”
What Causes It
“Swelling occurs when your body’s vascular system leaks water into your joints’ surrounding tissues,” Lassiter says. “This is a normal process that can go into overdrive for a number of reasons: ingesting a lot of salt, dancing in a hot, humid environment, or wearing especially tight clothing.”
How to Deal
Use Gravity
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Staying hydrated signals to your body that there’s a reduced risk of dehydration, which allows the fluid in the tissues causing the swelling to be released.
Use Cold Water or Ice
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This helps chill the tissues, which then causes your vascular system to constrict and become less leaky.
Pump It Up
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While elevating your ankles, slowly point and flex them to help your calves reabsorb fluid. This is known as the ‘pump mechanism,’ which helps get the blood from your lower legs back up to your organs.
Compress
Any type of compression garment, like socks, can help prevent chronic swelling. But be careful of how tight the elastic is at the topu—you don’t want it to become a tourniquet!
Minimal swelling is completely normal. “But if you’re able to press into the swollen area and it maintains indentation for more than a second or two, it’d be best to consult your doctor,” Lassiter advises.
A version of this story appeared in the November 2018 issue of Dance Spirit with the title “Your Aches And Pains Addressed: Lower Body Swelling.”
