Is Swelling in Legs A Side Effect Of Dialysis
2015-07-06 17:24
If your kidneys do not function normally due to severe kidney disease your doctor may recommend dialysis. Dialysis can alleviate some kidney symptoms but also brings some side effects. Well, is swelling in legs a side effect of dialysis?
Why dialysis can induce swelling ?
As kidneys cannot function properly, they are unable to remove extra fluids adequately as before. As a result, fluid will accumulate in the body between dialysis treatment, thus causing swelling in the legs and other tissue space.
What side-effects can be induced by dialysis ?
Apart from swelling in the legs, patients on dialysis may also experience the following discomforts and side effects:
Low blood pressure
The most common side effect of dialysis is low blood pressure. It can occur when too much fluid is removed from the blood during dialysis. This leads to pressure to drop, and nausea and dizziness can result.
Muscle cramp
Sometimes patients may experience muscle cramps while taking dialysis. Sometimes when fluid is removed out of the body at a fast rate during dialysis or too much fluid is removed, the muscle react by cramping.
Infection
The access can be infected or inflamed with dialysis. Pressure on the access can cause the site to become irritated. Keeping the area clean can prevent infection.
Itchy skin
Phosphorus is not effectively removed by dialysis and it is commonly thought that high phosphorus levels are responsible for itchy skin. Thus, foods with phosphorus are limited on the renal diet.
With these side effects, most of kidney disease patients do not want to take dialysis. If patients want to avoid dialysis, they need to repair their damaged kidneys and improve renal function. Only when kidney function is improved can dialysis be postponed or avoided.
If you have other questions about dialysis or need any help in treating kidney disease, you can leave message to us, we will try our best to help you.
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