Wifes swollen ankles on 33 cruises

[texast518]

Any ideas for causes/cures? She doesn't add salt, wears magnet ankle bracelet, and creams. Dr doesn't help any. Not much, if any, of a problem @ home. Think this is a fairly common problem. I put ice in a ziplock before bed.

[E&B]

It could be she's very sensitive to salt. She may not add any, but it may already be in the food served onboard.

[soccersharon]

I try to drink a lot of water, and elevate my legs as much as possible. Some cruises are worse for me than others. Some folks recommend water pills, but I'd check with your physician before taking any.

[hockeyluver]

I have the same problem, my ankles and feet swell on cruises. I also dont add salt , even drink my margarita's without the salted edge :p

 

My doctor said that it is mostly from the salt in the air. He suggested I sleep with my feet elevated at night and to put them up when lounging, and it does seem to help.

[OKC Cruisers]

My wife and I both struggle with this when we cruise. Have even had one cruise where the swelling was quite painful. We have tried many things. One that helps us the most is we take our life vests from the closet and put them under the foot of our mattress so our feet are elevated while we sleep.

 

There have been many theories as to why this happens to some, but not all, cruisers. Salt in the food, salt in the air, salt in the tap water, over indulgence in food and drink, inactivity, alien abductions...

 

And I have read about just as many ways to combat it. Dry brushing, morning exercise, water pills, extra hydration, no alcohol, exorcism....

 

Good luck. I hope she finds a solution that works for her. Happy sailing!

 

Pete

Edited October 24, 2015 by OKC Cruisers

[HaliMakai]

There is a whole thread on this on the tips on cruising section. Several remedies listed. Happened to me the first time on my last cruise. Only the first day, freaked me out. Kept my feet elevated and drank lots of water.

[chengkp75]

My most common suggestion for water retention is to hydrate well, but only drink water from sources like the drink dispensers in the buffet or the MDR. Water from these sources have the chlorine filtered out, and chlorine adds to water retention.

 

Putting a life jacket under the bottom of the bed will elevate the feet, and standing in the pool will cause the greater pressure on the ankles to relocate the retained water.

[rucruisn2]

WOW! I can't believe I'm not the only one with this problem. My feet and ankles swell the moment I step onboard, even before I eat or drink anything. Doctors keep telling me it's because I eat too much salt, not so. I always take water pills when on a cruise. I live in

So. Florida and don't have this problem except when I cruise.

[Jana60]

Any ideas for causes/cures? She doesn't add salt, wears magnet ankle bracelet, and creams. Dr doesn't help any. Not much, if any, of a problem @ home. Think this is a fairly common problem. I put ice in a ziplock before bed.

 

I get the same thing to the point that even water pills won't make my ankles go down yet when I get home from the cruise with absolutely no effort on my part within 2 days my ankles are back to normal. I was always told it was due to the sodium in the food that's there as a preservative rather than as a seasoning. I do not pick up the salt shaker at the dinner table except to put a sprinkle on eggs. I have gotten to the point that in order to walk without pain I have to make sure I wear regular walking shoes most of the cruise as opposed to sandals so since my walking shoes look really weird with shorts or capris I end up wearing jeans while on a cruise in the Caribbean. The walking shoes don't keep my feet from swelling but they push the fluid up above the ankle so that I'm not in as much pain.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Jana60

[BananaAnna]

Any ideas for causes/cures? She doesn't add salt, wears magnet ankle bracelet, and creams. Dr doesn't help any. Not much, if any, of a problem @ home. Think this is a fairly common problem. I put ice in a ziplock before bed.

 

What does 'put ice in a ziplock before bed' do?

[txgranny]

Could be due to more walking and wearing flip flops that provide zero support as it used to happen to me and dr said it was from all the walking in the wrong shoes now i wear supportive tennis shoes off port and have never had it happen again

[cb at sea]

Icing the affected areas, I would presume...the swollen ankles....

[tango55]

This happens to me when I fly to a warm place as well! Went to Ottawa this summer to visit family and the whole time I was there my ankles were a swollen mess! I think it might have something to do with flying period!

 

Terry

[texast518]

What does 'put ice in a ziplock before bed' do?

Good question, 74 yo male remedy to try to help, probably doesn't. Placed on ankles.

Edited October 24, 2015 by texast518

[Kverlinger]

Sodium leaves the body when water does...My only suggestion would be to drink lots of water. I would also check with doctor before buying water pills. The last thing you want is to become dehydrated. Just my opinion... :)

[texast518]

sodium leaves the body when water does...my only suggestion would be to drink lots of water. I would also check with doctor before buying water pills. The last thing you want is to become dehydrated. Just my opinion... :)

thanks all, tom

[SadieN]

Check out the Fashion and Beauty board. Do a search for 'Swollen ankles'. (Can't figure out how to copy/paste threads from my phone. :( )

Several things that people say have worked--- stay hydrated, elevate legs as much as possible (raising foot of bed when sleeping), black cherry, and massaging legs in a certain way.

[linbobky]

My wife and I both struggle with this when we cruise. Have even had one cruise where the swelling was quite painful. We have tried many things. One that helps us the most is we take our life vests from the closet and put them under the foot of our mattress so our feet are elevated while we sleep.

 

There have been many theories as to why this happens to some, but not all, cruisers. Salt in the food, salt in the air, salt in the tap water, over indulgence in food and drink, inactivity, alien abductions...

 

And I have read about just as many ways to combat it. Dry brushing, morning exercise, water pills, extra hydration, no alcohol, exorcism....

 

Good luck. I hope she finds a solution that works for her. Happy sailing!

 

Pete

I had the same problem on the fascination 2 weeks ago.:( when I got back home, they went back to normal.:)

but, I do vote on the alien abductions!:eek:

Edited October 24, 2015 by linbobky
added a letter!

[bjd2]

This happened to my husband on our first 5 cruises. Then I found the other thread and bought the Elemis oil and brush online and the last 2 cruises he brushed twice a day and no swelling! Might not work for everyone but we're so glad we heard of it.

[JMHAM1]

I suffer from this and it has gotten worse as the years went along. Nothing helped. Water pills and drinking more water did nothing. One in our group recommended Parsley and celery capsules.

 

Both are natural diuretics. I was skeptical but thought what the heck. These were not something I could find at Target or Walgreens but was able to find them at the vitamin store.

 

I started taking the parsley and celery a couple of weeks before the cruise. I had a business trip where I was going to fly. I thought it would be a good test. I had NO swelling during or after the flight so YAY!

 

I took them during the trip and I can't say I had no swelling but it was minimal and gone overnight. I know during the trip it was easy for me to forget to take the capsules so I'm thinking if I took them as directed, I would have no trouble.

 

Wouldn't hurt to try!

[LuckyZ]

Any ideas for causes/cures? She doesn't add salt, wears magnet ankle bracelet, and creams. Dr doesn't help any. Not much, if any, of a problem @ home. Think this is a fairly common problem. I put ice in a ziplock before bed.

 

 

 

I have the same problem, only its my mid section that swells during the cruise.

 

My cure is to get off the ship at the end of the cruise and not eat 10 meals a day.

Edited October 24, 2015 by LuckyZ

[Pops, Esq.]

Try compression socks. Wear at night.

[sail7seas]

Here is a link to the lengthy thread on the Beauty Forum of CC about swollen ankles. Lots of suggestions in it.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1637335

[zqvol]

Any ideas for causes/cures? She doesn't add salt, wears magnet ankle bracelet, and creams. Dr doesn't help any. Not much, if any, of a problem @ home. Think this is a fairly common problem. I put ice in a ziplock before bed.

 

There is a lot of salt in the food, but an issue that people don't realize is that all the walking you do on the ship causes your ankles to swell because they are being used much more than you are used to at home. Ice may help but the only thing you can do is either walk a lot more at home before the cruise, or walk a lot less on the ship. Also as contradictory as this seems, make sure you stay hydrated, that means at least 80 ozs of water a day, in addition to any other beverages that you drink.

Edited October 24, 2015 by zqvol

[Lionesss]

Besides the high salt content in some of the foods, I still think that drinking bottle water in my mind is safer than drinking the ships filtered tap water.

 

I have nothing to prove that bottle water causes less fluid retention, but on our last three Oasis class sailings we drank only bottled water, the tap was too warm, we did notice we were not as puffy and our rings fit better, never had swollen ankles.......very thankful we dont.

 

Sea Ya