Water retention occurs when the body’s tissues tend to retain fluids, causing swelling often associated with pain, sudden weight gain or unnatural weight fluctuations and joint stiffness.
The causes of water retention can be many. They range from excessive ambient heat to the presence of the menstrual cycle, from nutritional deficiencies to the intake of the contraceptive pill, from pregnancy to chronic venous insufficiency, from the use of some drugs such as those to lower the pressure to standing up for too much time.