Rainy autumn is coming - a time when we move less and sit a lot, wear heavy shoes all day, take hot baths more often and longer. All this is not the best for our blood vessels and especially for varicose veins.
Use some delay in life to your advantage: take care of the health of your feet.
What are varicose veins?
It seems that everything is extremely clear: these are enlarged and visible veins on the legs.
However, such changes are not just a cosmetic defect, but a manifestation of insidious varicose veins.
What is happening?
The superficial veins of the lower limbs expand, which leads to the creation of conditions for slowing down the blood flow and the formation of thrombi (blood clots) in the lumen of the vessels.
Dangers
Due to a lack of nutrition and blood supply, trophic ulcers appear - long-term non-healing skin defects on the legs.
The resulting blood clots can break off and travel with the blood throughout the body. What does this mean? The development of thromboembolism: the lumen of the vessel is suddenly blocked and an obstacle to blood flow is created. Various organs are affected: an acute cerebrovascular accident (stroke) or heart attack (myocardium, kidney, lung) may occur. The complication is life-threatening and often leads to disability.
What else is known about varicose veins?
The older a person gets, the greater the risk of developing varicose veins. The disease has neither gender nor age. The disease can occur even in children, although it is quite rare. Women get sick more often than men.
A brief excursion into anatomy
Our blood moves through the systemic and pulmonary circulation.
normal
The heart beats rhythmically and pushes blood through the vessels. Thanks to the force of gravity from top to bottom, blood moves easily through the arteries.
Reaching the legs, the blood turns around and begins to move back through the veins - from the legs up to the heart. Without additional anatomical structures, this process is difficult, because the blood will simply flow back. Precisely to ensure normal blood flow, nature has provided valves in the veins that allow the blood to flow in only one direction - up.
The heart, the walls of the veins and the valves have assistants - the muscles of the legs. Thanks to the vigorous work of the muscles, the blood vessels of the legs contract and relax, pushing the blood up from valve to valve.
For varicose veins
The walls of the veins weaken, widen and lengthen. In this case, the valves stop closing, a gap forms between them, which slows down blood flow. Over time, a vicious circle is formed: the slower the blood flows, the more the veins are stretched and the worse the valves work.
Our veins are under attack
It is believed that varicose veins are a hereditary disease (in 98% of cases). A certain gene has been passed down to us from our ancestors, causing weakness of the venous wall and insufficiency of the venous valves. But even in this case, the disease does not always develop.
Additional unfavorable factors:
- Overweight or obesity.
- A person is engaged in heavy physical labor, lifting weights and standing on his feet for a long time.
- Intense sports, leg injuries.
- Sedentary lifestyle: a person is forced to sit for a long time - for example, 6-8 hours a day in front of a computer or in a car.
- In women - wearing heels, pregnancy and childbirth, taking hormonal contraceptives (blood thickens).
- Chronic constipation.
- Features of the diet: increased amount of carbohydrates, lack of vegetables and fruits. Because the body does not receive the substances necessary to restore the structure of the venous wall.
How to recognize varicose veins? What to do?
The disease has several stages of development with the gradual addition of new symptoms. Only a doctor should understand this.
You can self-assess the health of your veins and/or suspect the development of a disease.
When to see a doctor
At the first signs of illness: swelling, heaviness or pain in the legs, sometimes cramps in the calf muscles. In this case, there may be no visible changes in the veins of the lower extremities.
And, of course, you should see a doctor as soon as possible if veins appear on your legs. In addition, it does not matter which veins and how strongly they are visible. These may be varicose veins with the formation of bluish nodules. Sometimes the changes are minor in the form of a vascular pattern - the so-called "stars" or "reticulations", which are the initial signs of varicose veins.
Correct diagnosis is the basis of successful treatment
Doppler ultrasound and duplex angioscanning of the leg veins are performed. The examination is informative starting from the early stage of the disease: when there are only complaints and no visible changes in the veins.
From tablets and ointments to surgery
Contact with varicose veinsphlebologist. The earlier the doctor takes care of the health of your feet, the more effective the treatment.
The "gold standard" is the surgical removal of varicose veins, which has been performed for decades. The intervention is slightly traumatic and is performed in a hospital under anesthesia with incisions and suturing.
However, modern medicine approaches the solution of the problem sparingly and comprehensively.
The choice and combination of methods depends on the severity of the disease:
- Phlebotonics and phleboprotectors are prescribed - drugs that improve the condition and tone of the venous wall, increase the outflow of venous blood from the lower extremities.
- Blood thinners, inflammation relievers and pain relievers are used.
- Wearing therapeutic compression hosiery (socks/tights). The class is chosen by the doctor depending on the stage of the disease or for the purpose of prevention.
- Minimally invasive surgical interventions: sclerotherapy, endovenous laser coagulation, radiofrequency obliteration of veins. The altered veins are "glued together" or "sealed". The procedure lasts about an hour and after some time the patient goes home. Advantages: no cuts, infections, suppurations. Thanks to the technology, the risk of complications is close to zero.
Can varicose veins be cured?
No. If a person has inherited a disease from his ancestors, then no doctor can cure that disease forever.
You can eliminate the consequences of the disease, stop its further development and get rid of complications. However, the risk of relapse remains quite high. Therefore, follow your doctor's recommendations and try to avoid situations that have a negative impact on the health of your veins.
Flying gait: prevention of varicose veins
Almost everyone is at risk of developing varicose veins, so it would be good for all of us to follow simple rules in certain situations.
During pregnancy
Hormonal changes and compression of the inferior vena cava by the pregnant uterus lead to stagnation of blood in the veins of the lower extremities.
How to proceed
Choose compression stockings together with your doctor. When signs of illness appear, phlebotonics are prescribed.
Standing or sitting, lifting weights
Blood circulation worsens and the load on the lower limbs increases.
How to proceed
Avoid tight clothing and socks with tight elastic bands. Do not wear shoes with a heel higher than six cm. While working, move more often, change your position and do simple exercises.
When sitting, avoid crossing your legs, crossing your legs, or tucking one or both legs under you.
With a sedentary lifestyle
Blood stagnates in the veins of the lower limbs.
How to proceed
Engage in sports that dynamically load the lower leg. By contracting and relaxing the muscles improve the movement of blood in the vessels. Suitable for swimming, running, competitive walking, cycling.
With a hereditary predisposition
There is a high probability that the disease gene will manifest itself sooner or later. Moreover, it does not matter which veins were weakened in our ancestors - hemorrhoids, in the legs or in the groin.
How to proceed
Once a year visit a phlebologist for a preventive examination. Try to move more and avoid situations that adversely affect the veins.
P. S.Varicose veins are a "silent" disease. For a long time, the disease does not cause pain, does not cause inconvenience and does not interfere with life. Unless the "web" is perceived as an annoying cosmetic defect. Meanwhile, a timely visit to the doctor will help to avoid many problems.