Swelling (medical)

In medical parlance, swelling is the transient enlargement or protuberance in the body and may include tumors. According to cause, it may be congenital, traumatic, inflammatory, neoplastic or miscellaneous.

It can occur throughout the body (generalized), or a specific part or organ can be affected (localized). Swelling is considered one of the five characteristics of inflammation; along with pain, heat, redness, and loss of function.

In a general sense, the suffix "-megaly" is used to indicate a growth, as in hepatomegaly, acromegaly, and splenomegaly.

A body part may swell in response to injury, infection, or disease, as well as because of an underlying lump. Swelling — especially swelling of the ankle can also occur if the body is not circulating fluid well.

Generalized swelling, or massive edema (also called anasarca), is a common sign in severely ill people. Although slight edema may be difficult to detect to the untrained eye, especially in an overweight person, massive edema is very obvious.

Types of swelling
Congenital swellings are present since birth. E.g. : hemangioma, meningocele etc. Some congenital swellings may not appear since birth, but later in life. E.g. : branchial cyst, dermatoid cyst, thyroglossal cyst.

Traumatic swellings develop immediately after trauma. E.g. : hematoma, dislocation

Inflammatory swelling : It may be either acute or chronic variety. The presentations of acute swellings are redness, local fever, pain and impairment of function of the affected organ. The related lymph nodes will be affected and will show signs of acute lymphadenitis. Chronic inflammatory swellings will show the signs of acute inflammatory swellings, but in subdued form. In this case, edema might not occur. Such swellings can be differentiated from neoplastic swellings by the fact that neoplastic swellings never recede in size, but inflammatory swellings may show occasional diminution.

Neoplastic swellings can be either benign or malignant.

Causes
The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of swelling symptoms:

General possible causes of localized swelling:

Some possible causes of skin swelling include:

Causes of generalized swelling:

Some possible causes of a swollen limb include:

Treatment
While it's possible for mild swelling to go away on its own, several things can be done to relieve the symptoms or hasten the process. The HI-RICE first aid method of rest and protecting the affected area has long been taught as a short term solution. The application of oxygen is known to assist in the reduction of swelling.