The swelling on the face can be caused by a dental problem, after surgery or even due to some illness, which should be evaluated by the doctor. It is normal to wake up with swollen face after consuming alcoholic beverages or to have gone to a carvery barbeque the night before, but certain situations are serious and deserve attention of the doctor, especially when the facial edema appears suddenly or the person does not find an apparent reason for the its emergence.
The face may become swollen when the kidneys can not adequately filter blood, but it can also happen as a medication effect, fall, head bump or some trauma. You should go to the doctor if the swelling on your face is sore or if there is a fever. Check out some possible causes of facial edema, such as deflating the face naturally and warning signs to see a doctor.
Main causes
Some situations that can cause facial edema are:
- After a dental surgery, in the region of the face, head or neck;
- During pregnancy and the first few days after delivery;
- During cancer treatment, after a chemotherapy or immunotherapy session;
- In case of allergy that can be caused by foods or products that have applied on the face;
- After a day of overdose, especially containing excess sodium and salt;
- After sleeping for many hours in a row, especially if sleeping on the stomach;
- By sleeping a few hours, not being enough to rest properly;
- In case of infection in the face or eyes, such as conjunctivitis, sinusitis or allergic rhinitis;
- During a migraine headache or migraine headache;
- Due to the side effect of medications such as aspirin, penicillin or prednisone;
- After insect bite in the head or neck region;
- Trauma involving the head region;
- Obesity.
Other more serious conditions that should always be evaluated by the doctor include changes in the salivary glands, hypothyroidism, peripheral facial paralysis, superior vena cava syndrome, angioedema, or kidney disease, which causes swelling especially in the lower part of the eyes.
What to do to deflate the face
1. Apply cold water and ice
Washing your face with ice water is a simple but quite effective strategy. Wrapping a pebble of ice on a napkin sheet and wrapping around the eyes in circular motions is also a good way to eliminate excess fluid from the area because cold will promote a decrease in the diameter of small blood vessels, which helps reduce swelling simply and quickly.
2. Drinking water and exercising
Drink 2 glasses of water and go fast walk or jog for about 20 minutes, before eating breakfast will also promote increased blood circulation and the formation of a greater amount of urine, which will naturally eliminate the excess of body fluids. After that, you can have breakfast avoiding processed foods, preferring natural yogurt or a fruit juice diuretic, such as pineapple with mint, for example. Check out more examples of diuretic foods.
3. Lymph drainage on the face
Doing a lymphatic drainage on the face is also an excellent natural solution to deflate the face. Here are the steps to do the face drain on this video:
4. Taking a diuretic medicine
The last option should be to take a diuretic medicine such as Furosemide, Hydrochlorothiazide or Aldactone, which should always be prescribed by the doctor. These stimulate the kidneys to filter more blood, which helps the body eliminate more water and sodium through the urine, and furthermore, they help in controlling blood pressure. Learn more examples of diuretic medicines that your doctor can recommend, when needed.
Warning signs to go to the doctor
Therefore, it is recommended to seek medical help if you have signs and symptoms such as:
- Swelling in the face that appears suddenly;
- If there is redness of the eyes and a lot of patch or crust on the eyelashes;
- Facial swelling that causes pain, seems hard or seems to get worse over time, rather than improve little by little;
- If there is any difficulty in breathing;
- If you have fever, sensitive or very reddish skin, it may indicate some infection.
The doctor should be know more details about how the swelling appeared on the face, which seems to improve or make the swelling worse, if there was any accident, insect sting, or if the person is taking any medication, or performing any health treatment or procedure aesthetic.
