Swollen feet usually result from fluid pooling in your lower legs due to gravity, excess sodium, prolonged sitting or standing, or an underlying health condition. The fastest way to bring swelling down is to elevate your feet above hip level, but lasting relief typically requires a combination of strategies: movement, dietary changes, compression, and knowing when the swelling signals something more serious.
Elevate Your Feet Above Hip Level
Elevation is the simplest and most immediate way to reduce swelling. The key detail most people get wrong is height: your feet need to be above your hips, not just propped on an ottoman at seat level. When your feet are lower than your hips, gravity still works against you, and fluid continues to pool.
Lie back on a couch or bed and place pillows under your entire lower leg so your foot is the highest point. Keep your knees slightly bent rather than locked straight, which is more comfortable and avoids putting pressure on the back of your knee. Support the whole leg, not just the ankle. There’s no single proven “dose” for elevation, but doing this for 15 to 30 minutes several times throughout the day is a practical starting point, especially after long periods of standing or sitting.
Use the Calf Muscle Pump
Your calf muscles act as a built-in pump. Every time they contract, they squeeze veins and lymph vessels, pushing fluid back up toward your heart. When you sit or stand still for hours, that pump barely fires, and fluid accumulates in your feet and ankles. Even small, deliberate movements can restart it.
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust recommends these exercises, each done for 5 to 10 repetitions:
- Ankle pumps: Pull your toes up toward your shin, then point them toward the floor. You can do this seated at a desk or lying down.
- Seated heel raises: With your feet flat on the floor, lift just your heels while keeping your toes down.
- Standing heel raises: Hold a counter or chair back for balance, rise up onto the balls of your feet, then slowly lower. Repeat 5 to 10 times.
- Marching in place: Standing or seated, march for up to one minute.
These are easy enough to do at your desk, in a kitchen, or on a plane. If you sit for most of the day, running through a set every hour or two can make a noticeable difference by evening.
Cut Back on Sodium
Sodium attracts and holds water in your bloodstream and tissues. The more sodium you eat, the more fluid your body retains, and gravity pulls that extra fluid into your feet. The Mayo Clinic notes that some people are especially sodium-sensitive, meaning their bodies hold onto sodium more readily and see bigger swings in fluid retention.
U.S. nutrition guidelines set the daily sodium limit at 2,300 milligrams, roughly one teaspoon of table salt. The World Health Organization recommends staying under 2,000 mg. Most people far exceed both numbers, largely through processed and restaurant foods rather than the salt shaker. Canned soups, deli meats, frozen meals, soy sauce, and cheese are common culprits. Reading nutrition labels and choosing lower-sodium versions of foods you eat regularly is one of the most effective long-term strategies for keeping foot swelling in check.
Eat More Potassium-Rich Foods
Potassium directly counteracts sodium’s fluid-retaining effect. Higher potassium intake increases the amount of sodium your kidneys flush out through urine, which reduces the volume of fluid circulating in your body. This effect is especially pronounced if you tend to be sodium-sensitive.
You don’t need a supplement to get enough. Many everyday foods are excellent sources:
- Dried apricots: 755 mg per half cup
- Cooked lentils: 731 mg per cup
- Baked potato (flesh only): 610 mg per medium potato
- Kidney beans: 607 mg per cup
- Orange juice: 496 mg per cup
- Banana: 422 mg per medium fruit
- Spinach: 334 mg per two cups raw
- Salmon: 326 mg per three ounces
Building meals around beans, potatoes, leafy greens, and fruit gives you a potassium boost without needing to track numbers precisely. If you have kidney disease, though, potassium intake needs to be managed carefully, because impaired kidneys can’t excrete excess potassium efficiently.
Try Compression Socks
Compression socks or stockings apply graduated pressure to your lower legs, tightest at the ankle and looser toward the knee. This helps veins and lymph vessels push fluid upward instead of letting it settle in your feet. They’re especially useful if you stand for long shifts, travel frequently, or notice swelling that builds throughout the day.
Compression levels are measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg), and the right level depends on how much swelling you’re dealing with:
- 15 to 20 mmHg (mild): Good for occasional, mild puffiness. Available over the counter at most pharmacies.
- 20 to 30 mmHg (moderate): The most commonly recommended range for persistent mild-to-moderate swelling.
- 30 to 40 mmHg (firm): Typically used for more significant swelling, venous insufficiency, or lymphedema that doesn’t respond to lower levels.
- 40 to 50 mmHg and above: Reserved for severe cases and prescribed after a clinical assessment.
Starting with a 15 to 20 mmHg pair is reasonable if you’ve never worn compression before. Put them on first thing in the morning before swelling has a chance to build. If they don’t seem to help after a couple of weeks, moving up to 20 to 30 mmHg is the next step. Stockings that are too tight or poorly fitted can dig into your skin and actually worsen circulation, so proper sizing matters.
Stay Hydrated
It sounds counterintuitive, but drinking enough water helps reduce swelling rather than making it worse. When you’re dehydrated, your body holds onto more sodium and fluid as a protective response. Staying consistently hydrated signals your kidneys to release excess sodium and water rather than hoard it. Plain water is ideal. There’s no magic number that works for everyone, but paying attention to your urine color (pale yellow is the target) is a more reliable guide than rigid ounce counts.
Epsom Salt Soaks
Soaking swollen feet in warm water with Epsom salt is a popular home remedy, but the evidence behind it is thin. No clinical trials have confirmed that magnesium from Epsom salt absorbs through your skin in meaningful amounts, and the research that does exist is skeptical of transdermal absorption. That said, a warm soak can still feel soothing and may temporarily ease discomfort. If you want to try it, dissolve about 1.25 cups (300 grams) in a basin of comfortably warm water and soak for around 15 minutes. The benefit is likely the warmth and the break from standing, not the magnesium itself.
When Swelling May Signal Something Serious
Swelling in both feet that comes and goes with long days, hot weather, or salty meals is usually benign. But certain patterns deserve medical attention.
Swelling in only one foot or leg is the most important red flag. A blood clot in a deep vein (deep vein thrombosis) typically causes swelling on just one side, often with warmth, redness, or a cramping pain in the calf. This requires urgent evaluation. Lymphedema, a condition where lymph fluid backs up in a limb, is also unilateral about 75% of the time, with the left leg more commonly affected.
Swelling in both legs that is persistent, worsening, or accompanied by shortness of breath can point to heart failure, kidney problems, or liver disease. In heart failure, the heart can’t pump efficiently, causing fluid to back up in the lungs, liver, and legs. The swelling tends to worsen over the course of the day and may leave a visible dent when you press your finger into the skin (called pitting edema). If your foot swelling is new, doesn’t improve with elevation and basic self-care, or comes with chest tightness or trouble breathing, those are signs to get it checked promptly rather than managing it at home.