While I have not encountered this problem it intrigued me on what could be done to help this situation. I expected to find a lot of information about salt intake and to avoid salt and that was not the case. We all know to avoid over use of salt and salt was not listed often on what I could find about swelling of the extremities.
From a USA Today Article I found this list and it many common sense to me:
- Wear loose-fitting comfortable clothing that does not bind. As professional drivers we need to be aware of our appearance and hit a happy medium.
- Choose shoes that are easy to slip on and off. Personally I very seldom wear shoes when driving or inside the truck.
- Get up and move at least once an hour. This seems excessive but if you have a problem with swelling this might be something you want to consider.
- Alternate putting pressure on your toes and heels, shake your legs. I have found that tapping my feet to a song when not in traffic helps to keep my legs feeling good.
- Do some isometric exercise. Point and flex your toes, rotate each ankle both clockwise and counter clockwise. Perform small leg lifts and hold each lift for a few seconds. This is something I really work on when driving to keep my legs making small movements.
- Drink lots of water - avoid caffeinated and over salty foods.
- Dehydrated can exacerbate swelling
- If needed lose weight was also on the list
- Wear support stockings
Drinking lots of water and movement seems to be the key to keeping the swelling of extremities at bay. I also think that drinking a lot of water will keep us stopping at least every 100 miles to walk to the bathroom which in turn will help with the swelling.
What do you do to keep this from happening? Does anyone have a problem with his or her hands swelling and what do you do about this?