Swollen legs/ankles/feet - THIS WORKED!

[Lois R]

I swear by drinking aloe Vera gel it keeps my body in tune and my feet don't swell

 

You drink a gel?:eek:.....Maybe I am just old but I always thought gel's

were not to be taken internally.

[claireabella]

It's forever living aloe Vera drinking gel, google it

[Christine Frances]

My Dr asked me to try using bottled water as much as possible while on board......so I did.....and I was shocked to find I barely had some swelling all week....I did not stint myself food wise.....i'm a believer and will try it again in feb....so while i may be"wrong" I was a lot more comfortable!

 

People who bring/buy water on board drink much more water than they normally would. Because a case of water is readily available its easy to have waer with you while walking around the ship and in ports. This increased water intake has the affect of flushing the salts from food etc from the body which inhibits/reduces swelling. You would have the same result if you filled 12 water bottles from the buffet and had them handy in the cabin. You are just drinking much more water.

[CallyCruzer]

People who bring/buy water on board drink much more water than they normally would. Because a case of water is readily available its easy to have waer with you while walking around the ship and in ports. This increased water intake has the affect of flushing the salts from food etc from the body which inhibits/reduces swelling. You would have the same result if you filled 12 water bottles from the buffet and had them handy in the cabin. You are just drinking much more water.

 

 

I disagree - but only because I have tried just about everything that has been posted on these boards. I have cruised 20+ cruises. Every time, no matter if I flew to the port or drove, hot destinations or cold, my feet and legs would swell to the point that I could hardly walk. I tried the gel and the brush - didn't work for me. I drank tons of water on the ship - couple of glasses at breakfast, throughout the day and many glasses of water with all my meals. I would swell even more! I would go to the spa for legal and foot massages hoping that the massage would help drain the fluids from the lympatic glands. My doctor explained that while, yes, the water is purified, etc etc, there can be chemicals/sodium in the ship water that is causing me to retain fluid. Knowing the water is in the food that is prepared on the ship - and of course in my beloved coffee I drank in the morning, I would have an expresso in the morning to get my caffeine going, then I would have orange juice with breakfast, and bottled water with my other two meals. I drank no more water during the day than I would have otherwise - probably less, since I was purchasing bottled water on the ship. So the mystery to my swelling has finally been solved after numerous of years of misery. I no longer have the horrible swelling I used to deal with. Minimal swelling on 14 day cruises, since the ship water is still in the food. My husband never had the issue, nor my adult daughter. Call it "allergy" if you would want, but I think some people are much more sensitive to it than others.

[musicmom3]

People who bring/buy water on board drink much more water than they normally would. Because a case of water is readily available its easy to have waer with you while walking around the ship and in ports. This increased water intake has the affect of flushing the salts from food etc from the body which inhibits/reduces swelling. You would have the same result if you filled 12 water bottles from the buffet and had them handy in the cabin. You are just drinking much more water.

 

I disagree. For me it seems to be an issue of quality rather than quantity. I just returned from a 7-day cruise with, for the first time, absolutely no swelling, having substituted bottled water for tap water on the ship. I did not bring on my own water. For the curious, my consumption was two of the big bottles and two of the little bottles in the mini-fridge for the entire cruise, decanting them into my little fancy water bottle as needed. On port days and on excursions, I drank bottled or tap water as needed/available. In addition to the bottled water, on the ship I allowed myself two cups of coffee per day, avoided all soups, and scraped away most sauces. I am not a big drinker (maybe four glasses of white wine over the cruise). I had begun the dry-brush-massage technique about a month before departing and have no idea if this contributed, but since it does great things for my skin, will be continuing it. I had brought the arnica but never used it. I recommend at least trying the bottled water route if swelling is an issue. Can't hurt, and may help, as it did for me.

[jnc411]

My DH has had real problems with swollen legs on cruises in the past, so for the last 4 or 5 cruises we brought a case of water for him , and bingo.... no swelling in his legs. I can drink the ship water no problem , but he can not , it does not matter that it is purified, he just has problems with it. He tried all the fixes in this thread ,parsley , the dark cherry capsules , the arnical gel and brush , nope, nothing worked . But bringing our own water seems to be the ticket. One other thing we think has helped the last cruise he does not order the soups at dinner any more , they are delicious , but way to much salt. I guess different strokes for different folks.

Happy Cruising all.

Cori

[SANJOSEGAL]

My DH has had real problems with swollen legs on cruises in the past, so for the last 4 or 5 cruises we brought a case of water for him , and bingo.... no swelling in his legs. I can drink the ship water no problem , but he can not , it does not matter that it is purified, he just has problems with it. He tried all the fixes in this thread ,parsley , the dark cherry capsules , the arnical gel and brush , nope, nothing worked . But bringing our own water seems to be the ticket. One other thing we think has helped the last cruise he does not order the soups at dinner any more , they are delicious , but way to much salt. I guess different strokes for different folks.

Happy Cruising all.

Cori

 

Cori I bet your husband was so happy to have found the trick for him. I too only drink bottled water and avoid all soups and sauces. I also do the brush and oil, all of this in combination has totally eliminated my swelling.

Since we are no longer allowed to carry on our water I have pre-order a few cases of water to be delivered to our cabin for our October 10th cruise on the Breeze.

 

Thank you for sharing your story I'm sure it will help many fellow cruisers.

[pcur]

Just a quick comment. What I use is arnica GEL.

[Elena63]

Has anyone ever tried to reduce the swelling with dry brushing and coconut oil? I need to take my small jar of coconut oil for "other" reasons (;)), and I thought maybe this would work too!! I'll let you know in November!!

[LindaM]

You are wrong.

 

The primary source of ships' water is desalinated ocean water, which has been purified to a standard that far exceeds those of most U.S. municipal water departments (and the company that produced your bottled water). Certain minerals are added back to the purified water. No salt is added.

 

Where cruise passengers get their overload of salt is from the prepared food.

 

Unfortunately, the desalination process doesn't remove all the salt. I know this for a fact because my hair always looks better after washing it on a ship....they sell salt sprays to add body to hair in drugstores. You can even taste the salt in the water from the tap!

[S&D]

We also found drinking bottled water helped with the dreaded swollen ankles...:)

 

a few friends also took B6 tablets which helped with the fluid too...

 

S&D

[NMLady]

Unfortunately, the desalination process doesn't remove all the salt. I know this for a fact because my hair always looks better after washing it on a ship....they sell salt sprays to add body to hair in drugstores. You can even taste the salt in the water from the tap!

 

Do not drink water from the tap, just from the buffet. A HUGE difference!

[eng4]

Do not drink water from the tap, just from the buffet. A HUGE difference!

 

 

The water at the buffett has less salt? So the lemon aide and tea are okay also?

What about the MDR?

[Froufie]

Just back from a 10 day cruise where I ordered 2 cases of bottled water (24 bottles) and I am happy to report that the swelling was minimal and very manageable due to drinking more of the bottled water and less of the 'ship's water'.

 

While the ship's water is desalinated I believe it is still 'saltier' than bottled. Of course it is hard to avoid all ship's water due to cooking and other liquids however this did seem to work for me (had about 3 bottles left at end of cruise).

 

Plan to do this again on next cruise (maybe only 1 case cuz it's 7 days)...and hoping to have similar results :)

[eng4]

Just back from a 10 day cruise where I ordered 2 cases of bottled water (24 bottles) and I am happy to report that the swelling was minimal and very manageable due to drinking more of the bottled water and less of the 'ship's water'.

 

 

 

While the ship's water is desalinated I believe it is still 'saltier' than bottled. Of course it is hard to avoid all ship's water due to cooking and other liquids however this did seem to work for me (had about 3 bottles left at end of cruise).

 

 

 

Plan to do this again on next cruise (maybe only 1 case cuz it's 7 days)...and hoping to have similar results :)

 

 

You didn't drink ice tea or lemonade? Do you think its risky to drink that?

[Froufie]

You didn't drink ice tea or lemonade? Do you think its risky to drink that?

 

I drank very little iced tea/lemonade (which I like to mix together :) )...and of course some juice in the morning (not sure if that is mixed with the ship's water)..and I did start out drinking the 'water' in the dining room with dinner - but noticed a slight swelling - so switched to my own bottled water which I think did make a difference for me!

 

I also carried on an 8 pack of diet pepsi cans - and left 2 behind....

[eng4]

I drank very little iced tea/lemonade (which I like to mix together :) )...and of course some juice in the morning (not sure if that is mixed with the ship's water)..and I did start out drinking the 'water' in the dining room with dinner - but noticed a slight swelling - so switched to my own bottled water which I think did make a difference for me!

 

 

 

I also carried on an 8 pack of diet pepsi cans - and left 2 behind....

 

 

Okay, I think I might try using bottle water as much as possible also. I'm a big ice cube person with my drinks so its going to hard!!

[Froufie]

Okay, I think I might try using bottle water as much as possible also. I'm a big ice cube person with my drinks so its going to hard!!

 

I was on the Triumph which in fact does not have any fridges in the cabins (altho to be quite honest they don't keep things that cold) - but did have an ice bucket and would place a bottle in there to 'chill', kept one in my tote bag onboard and another in the washroom for meds/drinking....

 

I guess you can judge if the ice cubes are causing a problem or not? good luck :)

[Wndrwomn]

As for Brushing:

When I was younger, I read an article in Seventeen magazine regarding beauty tips practiced by supermodels. One that I have used just about every day since then was to use a scrub brush while in the shower to exfoliate your body and help deter cellulite in your legs. Back then I knew nothing about dry brushing, but I do/did brushing while in the shower (wet) and at 47, my legs look great. My two younger sisters complain about a lot of cellulite and neither brush. I have also told this to my two daughters (21&22) to minimize their accumulation of cellulite. I don't use oil, just shower gel or just a wet brush.

I also rarely experience swelling of my lower limbs. I an a busy ER RN, on my feet for 12 hours a day and thankfully no varicose veins (which run in my family) or swelling. I attribute the daily brushing for 30+ years for this.

 

Just as you brush your teeth and your hair every day, so should you brush your body. Your skin is your body's largest organ! It is *amazing* and should be treated with care! Give it the attention it deserves and needs :)

Also, hormones play a huge part in keeping our bodies in balance. Hormone disruptors are in so many products we use, eat and drink. Salt is not always the culprit. The cleaning products used, the fumes from carpeting, bedding, etc. cause problems as well. Sometimes it's just the environment of a cruise ship/airplane/hotel room, etc. that can cause allergic responses including inflammation.

Anyway.....

So if you're cruising next week, next month or next year, start getting in the habit of daily brushing!

[pcur]

Reposting and hoping for some details on what I should be doing as per above? Thanks :)

 

I have now used my "formula" on several cruises, and with good results. I got a bug bite on my left calf (in December!!!!!), after driving all day to the cruise port. I ended up with fire engine red vasculitis and swelling. Immediately started with the following:

 

Brisk brushing UPWARD affected area.

 

I now mix arnica and Benidryl gels togther, small amounts, and massage circular and upwards until absorbed. Arnica eliminates the redness, and Benidryl reduces swelling (it's topical antihistamine).

 

Do this morning and night, especially if you consume alcohol. Do it again after coming in from port if you have been walking a lot, or if it's hot and humid.

 

Elevate my feet. THIS IS IMPORTANT: on the ship put a life jacket under the foot of your mattress, laid out flat. That 5 inches of elevation works well overnight.

 

My vasculitis is now just a little around the bug bite. 90% of it was gone in 36 hours. Swelling is minimal this cruise, and is gone completely in the mornings.

 

Except for happy hour drinks, I am drinking nothing but ship and bottled water.

[Wndrwomn]

The elevation of the feet with the life jacket under the mattress is an awesome idea Everyone can use, I love it!

[pcur]

The elevation of the feet with the life jacket under the mattress is an awesome idea Everyone can use, I love it!

 

A man I met years ago on a ship had severe circulatory issues, and told me about this. He does this on all his cruises.

 

It works great at the head of the bed for heartburn, and helps lessen snoring.

[Pesh]

I'm cruising on Carnival in a few weeks and plan to order bottled water to be delivered to my cabin to avoid the ship's water since it seemed to be a factor in the ridiculous swelling I had on my last Carnival cruise. For anyone else who sailed on Carnival...tell me about the bottled water from the Fun Shops. Did it help you? It isn't ship water repackaged, right?

 

This thread has been so helpful, I'm so glad I found it. Thanks everyone for all the information!

[Froufie]

See my post above - yes it definitely helped me - I ordered 2 cases of 12 for a 10 day cruise - it is not 'rebottled' ship's water - as I do remember someone asking John Heald what type it was and who the 'bottler' was and it was definitely legit! :)

[Bettyboop66]

After reading more posts on this thread I thought I'd give another update on my use of the brushing. Just back from a 15 day cruise to Hawaii. Used the brush morning and night every day, used the arnica gel almost everytime. I will admit, sometimes in the morning I was in a hurry so I'd skip the gel, but NEVER skipped the actual brushing. I drink the ships water, and alcohol and had very minimal swelling. Usually just a bit by the end of a busy port day, but by morning it was all gone. Hope this helps:)