Water retention, also called fluid retention or edema, is a condition that occurs when fluids in your body tissues build up abnormally. You can develop water retention for a number of reasons, but exercise is not typically a cause. In fact, regular exercise can help you relieve your water retention symptoms.
Understanding Water Retention
Fluid in your bloodstream called lymph regularly leaks into tissues throughout your body, according to Better Health Channel. Normally, this lymph is passed back to your blood through a series of interconnected tubes known collectively as your lymphatic system. In individuals with water retention, lymph does not return from the affected tissues. Rather, it builds up and produces symptoms that can include swelling, aching in the affected area, joint stiffness, unexplained weight fluctuations and rapid weight gain. In some cases, water retention-related swelling is limited to areas such as your ankles, hands or feet. In other cases, swelling occurs throughout your body.
Common Retention Causes
You can develop water retention from a wide range of causes, Better Health Channel reports. Common sources for the condition include body changes associated with menstruation, pregnancy-related hormone changes, use of oral contraceptives that contain estrogen, deficiencies of vitamin B1 or protein, sunburns and other burn injuries, gravity effects associated with prolonged standing, hot weather and use of medications such as corticosteroids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories and antihypertensives.
Medical Conditions
You can also develop water retention if you have any one of a number of medical conditions, Better Health Channel notes, including heart failure, liver or kidney disease, arthritis, chronic lung disease, thyroid disease and abnormal sensitivity to insect bites. You can also develop retention symptoms if you have a blood-pooling disorder called chronic venous insufficiency or a form of lymphatic cancer called malignant lymphedema. If you experience symptoms of water retention, consult your doctor for a definitive diagnosis and identification of any potentially serious underlying causes.
Exercise Effects
Regular exercise can help reduce the effects of mild cases of water retention, Better Health Channel explains. This is especially true for women with menstruation-related retention, MayoClinic.com notes. If you have water retention related to your menstrual cycle, other potentially beneficial home care options include eating more water-rich fruits and vegetables, reducing your sodium intake and increasing your daily water intake to roughly eight glasses per day. This may seem counterintuitive, but increasing your water intake will increase your urine output, which in turn can relieve water retention. If you have water retention related to an underlying medical condition, your doctor may need to successfully treat that condition to relieve your retention symptoms.
Considerations
Women with menstruation-related water retention may also be able to reduce their symptoms by taking supplementary magnesium and calcium, MayoClinic.com reports. However, evidence in this area is preliminary at best. Some individuals also use "diuretic" supplements such as juniper, ginger or dandelion to relieve water retention. Be aware that use of these supplements may directly harm you or contribute to unanticipated medication interactions. Consult your doctor for more information on retention-related supplementation.
