Water Retention in face means excess fluid is built up in the body system, and cause the appearance of a swollen puffy face. The accumulation of fluid in facial tissues happens when there is fluid distributive and metabolic inefficiency in our body’s physiological functions.

Facial Water Retention

Facial Water Retention causes facial puffiness because fluid collects under the skin of our face. Puffy eyelids, swelling around the eye socket, under eye bags, cheeks and lips cause one to have an appearance of a swollen puffy face.

What Water Retention Means

Water retention means there is a fluid imbalance in the body causing fluid accumulation because of the inability to maintain an intake-output water balance within the body system. This can be due to hormonal, metabolic, lymphatic, and excretory, etc and other physiological dysfunctions that impede the draining of excess fluids.

Facial water retention therefore means that there could be poor blood circulation on the face, and; or indirectly be caused by anything from allergies, health risks to more serious underlying medical conditions.

Swollen Puffy Face: A sign of medical conditions

Swollen puffy face can also be a sign of underlying factors relating to our lifestyle, health and natural physiological changes. Lifestyle causes can include sedentarism, poor diet, exposure to allergens, etc. Health influences such as medications, kidney and liver diseases, heart condition, etc, can

Causes of Water Retention in Face

Physical Inactivity

Sedentarism, also known as the prolonged lack of physical activities, can lead to fluid pooling within the body. This can cause facial puffiness as water retains and bulks up under the skin, especially in areas near the nasal cavity, eg. sinuses.

Allergies

Sinuses, such as behind the cheek bones, get congested with fluid instead of air when they become inflamed. This builds up pressure in the facial tissues, causing the appearance of a swollen puffy face. Allergic rhinitis can occur when you inhale certain allergens that could trigger an immune system response. When particles of pollen, dust, smoke, and other irritants, etc enter the nose and into the nasal cavity, the body activates its defence mechanisms by increasing mucus production to protect the rest of the nasal passageways from infection. This overreactive production of mucus blocks up the air passages as it thickens and unable to drain. This results in swollen nasal and surrounding facial tissue.

Nutritional Imbalance & Poor Diet

Fluid retention in face may also distend the under eye areas and give rise to eye bags. Fluid retention under the eyes can also indicate mineral imbalance, or the lack of micronutrients. Salt or sodium retention, or potassium deficiency can affect urine production and discharge. Sodium and Potassium are electrolytes and both perform important roles of fluid balance, renal and cellular functions of our health.

High concentration of sodium drives water molecules out of our cells while potassium draws water into our cells, both through osmosis, to regulate and balance the concentration of these minerals in both our intracellular and extracellular fluids on either sides of the cell membranes. When we consume excess sodium, water is kept outside our cell compartments and stay as extracellular fluids. The excessive fluid volume builds up in the tissues, giving rise to a condition known as edema (or oedema). Edema symptoms include water retention not just in the face, but in the legs and feet as well.

Kidney & Liver Diseases, and Heart Condition

Kidney Disease

Kidneys have a few important functions when it comes to fluid retention in our body. They help to filter, re-absorb and secrete substances in their integral role of the urinary system. Kidney diseases involve kidney infection, inflammation and progressive kidney functional disorders. If the kidneys become deficient in filtering waste from the blood, they cannot remove the extra fluid to create urine, thus the retention of fluids in the system. Excess salt, toxins and metabolic waste materials will also accumulate in the blood, impairing other organs and surrounding tissues as well as causing cellular damage.

The inability to filter also affects the kidneys from reabsorbing the useful nutrients and hormones into the bloodstream and the blood plasma that deliver them to the rest of the body. Renal failure can be an acute or chronic kidney condition. The dysfunctions over time prevent proper secretion and discharge of harmful substances from the body and causes fluid to overload.

Liver Disease

The liver and kidneys communicate with one another to regulate sodium and water in our body. Our liver is responsible for the production and release of bile, a fluid that is stored in our gallbladder to break down and digest fats in our small intestines. In this process, water and electrolytes gets absorbed by the body among other nutrients and minerals through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream before being carried to the kidneys.

Like the kidney, the liver also filters waste from blood and maintains blood volume and fluid balance through detoxification. The liver detoxification process transports out the toxins from the cells through the bile secretion into the bloodstream. The liver produces a substance called urea during protein breakdown, of which is filtered by the kidneys. A person with liver disease or liver disorders may overload the body with these toxic waste to be transported to the kidneys for excretion. This in turn overload the kidneys and impairs the kidney functions, causing fluid retention.

Hormones

Certain hormones are produced and secreted into the bloodstream to work with the kidneys to maintain sodium and water balance. For example, the Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH) has the effect on the kidneys to boost water reabsorption and protects from water loss. Aldosterone maintains salt and water balance by regulating sodium reabsorption and potassium excretion in the kidney functions. Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP) helps to discharge excess sodium and water when our blood volume and pressure increase. Urine production is then increased to control fluid volume in the body. Hormonal imbalance causes these mechanisms in the kidneys to become unstable, therefore affecting the ability to maintain fluid balance that can lead to water retention.

Water Retention during Pregnancy

Pregnancy can cause water weight gain not just in the legs and body, but water retention in the face as well. Extra fluid accumulate because pregnancy hormones are produced during pregnancy, including rising estrogen level. Increased estrogens can lead to weight gain and increased uterine blood flow that can cause swelling to legs, ankles and even face.

Dehydration

Dehydration can trigger the body’s defense mechanism to retain more water. When the body senses the lack of water, it does certain things to overcompensate for further water loss. For instance, it activates certain hormones to reduce urine output in order to conserve more fluid in the body. The adrenal glands of the kidneys will also be stimulated for to re-absorb more water than necessary. As a result, they are unable to restore the sodium and water balance in the system.

The concentration of sodium in the bloodstream is also higher during dehydration as the cells lose water. The body then initiates to transport water from the extracellular space (outside of cells) into the intracellular and intercellular compartments. This process accumulates fluid inside of and in-between the cells, causing water retention in the tissues of those areas.

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