Swollen ankles/ feet

[Commutinghell]

I just wondered if anybody had tried any remedies for pregnancy related swollen feet that actually worked? I'm 29 weeks and my feet and ankles are huge. I'm not overly worried, I know there are much worse things that could be happening but if there's a way of preventing it I'd love to give it a go. Thanks.x

I've been suffering with horrendous swollen ankles and feet over the past few days. All I can suggest is trying to keep feet elevated and make sure you drink plenty of water.

I wear men's socks. It helps.

I found it helped to wear support tights or go bare foot in flip flops. Keep your feet elevated when possible and wrap your feet in cold wet flannels when you're at home.

Thanks so much everyone, I'm going to try all that. keep 'em coming

I found that ankle socks agravated it - so I switched to those trainer liner socks and that really helped.

I agree that you need to wear support tights, not just socks. Swollen ankles are a symptom of circulation problems in your whole leg, not just your ankles, and support tights help overcome the problem the length of your leg. You need to wear them all the time!

Try raising the end of your mattress so that your legs are slightly above your head when you sleep.

Thanks all it does seem to be mildly improving! I haven't tried the support tights yet but drinking loads of water and cutting out salt and tea seems to be helping.x

Hi, I've been taking a homeopathic remedy called nat mur from holland and Barrett for the past 2 weeks and it's really eased the swelling in my feet.

Ah brilliant, thank you. I was wondering whether holland and barrett were worth trying, I will have a look

My midwife recommended cucumber. Don't wear flipflops if you can get shoes on - speaking from someone who went up 2 shoes sizes and into wide shoes as my ligaments never recovered.

Oh dear, sorry to hear about your feet not recovering . Sorry for the stupid question but do you eat the cucumber or put it on your feet?

Massage was good for getting my feet back to normal size while pregnant and they stayed that way for about 24 hours. Be warned though - some evidence shows it can bring on labour!
Swimming was also good.

Swimming has worked well for me too. I couldn't massage my feet, I'm so ticklish I can't touch them. The things I have done are:
Drinking loads of water
Cutting out tea and coffee except for one cup of green tea a day
Sleeping with my feet on a cushion
Cutting down on salt
Eating lots of celery, beetroot and oats
Swimming twice a week
I'm pleased to say this seems to have worked wonders! I still have a bit of swelling on my right ankle but it's notably better than it was. Thanks for all the suggestions, I will have another look at some of the others if it flares up again.x