Varicose veins - a disease that is accompanied by the expansion of subcutaneous vessels or veins deep in the human body.
With this disease, the walls of the veins lose their elasticity, when varicose nodes appear, expand, forming blood clots, most visible on the legs of women. They are more likely to suffer from the disease. The disease can manifest itself at the age of 20, but more often in middle-aged women. Men also get sick, but much less often.
The reasons
Sometimes the cause of varicose veins is the frequent use of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol itself causes vasodilation, but if abused, it leads to harmful consequences.
Young girls who like to sit cross-legged for hours are also at risk of developing the disease. In this position of the legs, stagnation of blood occurs, which leads to the interruption of the natural blood supply to the whole body.
Major factors
What are the causes of varicose veins?
- Heredity. If the parents have weakened vein walls, this can be repeated in children.
- The cause of the disease can be high blood pressure. Sometimes this is due to a violation of the hormonal system.
- Pregnancy is difficult for many women, especially at the end of childbearing. At first, the disease does not appear, but after childbirth, all the signs of the disease are on the face. Women's stress during childbirth strongly affects the location of the veins.
- Overloading the body with the physical work of the muscles provides all the conditions for the development of the disease. It often occurs in athletes who participate in physical activity. Proper regulation of the load on the human body is necessary.
- People who do sedentary work, especially office workers, are exposed to the development of varicose veins.
- It is not better if you are constantly on your feet - this can also give impetus to the disease.
- Women who frequently use contraceptives containing large amounts of hormones are at risk.
- Disease or previous injuries of the hip joint can lead to the development of the disease.
- People who are overweight are more likely to develop varicose veins. They constantly strain the venous system.
- Abuse of tanning, frequent saunas and consumption of alcoholic beverages lead to the same situation.
Varicose veins are much easier to avoid than to cure. You just need to lead a healthy lifestyle, pay attention to good physical fitness and normal nutrition. In this case, there is a high probability of avoiding varicose veins.
How do varicose veins appear on the legs? The first signs with a photo
The various symptoms of varicose veins can usually appear at an early stage, when the disease can still be treated.
As a general rule, people rarely think about evening leg fatigue, swelling or varicose veins. If the symptoms appear too sharply, then we are talking about a neglected disease.
Early manifestations of varicose veins
As a general rule, identifying the early stage of varicose veins is not so easy. This is due to the fact that varicose veins have many symptoms and few people pay attention to them. People ignore leg swelling and fatigue. This is especially true for pregnant women: varicose veins are often not given much importance, and it is believed that such a complication during pregnancy is completely normal.
Indeed, excessive body weight can be considered the cause of varicose veins, but usually kilos go away after the appearance of the baby, but it also happens that a woman suffering from varicose veins during pregnancy cannot get rid of this disease after giving birth. This is often due to the fact that being overweight leads to vein disease.
The early symptoms of varicose veins are easy to notice: the legs get tired quickly from any physical activity, they become numb if they are in one position for a long time. But usually people rarely pay attention to this, because they think that pain in the legs when covering a long distance is normal. In winter, many people attribute the pain to the heavy insulated shoes on their feet, while in summer it is caused by the heat. However, this is just an excuse and there is no truth in it.
When consulting a specialist, it is worth considering the earliest symptoms that can be detected during the diagnosis of varicose veins: leg fatigue after light physical exertion or pain after wearing heavy shoes, women wearing heels often experience this, the presence of pain, burning sensation in the legs in the evening, increased fatigue, impaired performance. If the disease is neglected, the first sign of varicose veins is an ulcer.
Diagnostics
From the beginning of the recognition of a disease such as varicose veins, it is necessary to examine the veins to determine pain, tension, density, the presence of affected sections of the vein, swelling and inflammation. The specialist dealing with this examination is called a phlebologist. What to do at the first signs of varicose veins on the legs? First, the severity of the disease must be determined.
During the procedure, the patient must take a vertical position so that the veins are filled with blood as much as possible. It is best if the diagnosis is carried out in the evening - this allows the affected areas to have a more definite contour. By palpation and superficial examination, the specialist can obtain the very first information about the condition of the patient's blood vessels. After the preliminary examination, the second stage of diagnosing varicose veins begins - an ultrasound examination.
The examination carried out during the diagnosis of varicose veins is an important source of information that helps in the correct diagnosis of the disease.
What tests are performed in case of suspected varicose veins?
The first analysis is a blood sample for hormones, biochemistry and hemoglobin. A general blood test is also performed, its group and Rh, infectious group are determined.
After that, the patient must provide urine for analysis to determine hemoglobin, sugar, ketone bodies, and this analysis also determines acetone and ammonia in the patient's urine.
Ultrasonic procedure
With the help of ultrasound or ultrasound examination of the veins, you can examine the venous system from the inside and find the foci of the disease. This procedure takes no more than half an hour, during which the patient is in a horizontal position.
Treatment
This disease is very dangerous and spread all over the world, depending on the stage of the disease, different treatment methods are used.
To treat the first signs of varicose veins on the legs, you need to consult a phlebologist, who will make a correct diagnosis after the examination, it is impossible to treat this disease on its own. If treatment is not started in time, patients can die.
Treatment methods for treating the first signs of varicose veins on the legs:
- sclerotherapy;
- medical treatment;
- herbs;
- compression underwear;
- surgical intervention.
Folk methods
It is only used in complex treatment in combination with medicines, nettle and acacia tinctures should be taken. These tinctures are consumed three times a day before meals, it is useful to prepare cool foot baths from a decoction of burdock, nettle and birch leaves.
All recommended herbal preparations can only be taken with a doctor's permission, it is not recommended to drink decoctions and tinctures on your own.
Drug treatment
Such drugs, which have a tonic effect on the veins, are sold in pharmacies in the form of tablets and capsules, ointments and gels.
In order for the application of ointments to be effective, it is recommended to wear compression underwear at the same time.
Compression underwear
This selection includes pantyhose, tights, different compression underwear are prescribed at different stages of varicose veins. You can buy such medical tights in specialized stores.
This underwear helps to normalize the venous outflow of blood, the compression of the necessary force restores the normal functioning of the veins.
Drug treatment does not completely cure varicose veins, but it removes some of the symptoms and eases the disease process. In addition, due to the use of various drugs, the risk of developing a disease such as thrombophlebitis is reduced. This disease occurs due to the lack of treatment of varicose veins, it is treated only in a hospital, and surgery is often required.
For the treatment, I often use lymph drainage massage, thanks to its application during general therapy, the outflow of lymph in the legs improves, the swelling decreases, fatigue and heaviness in the legs disappear. The only downside is the effect of the massage. It only lasts two months, but after that the massage course can be extended.
Sclerotherapy
This type of treatment is used when surgery is needed, but this procedure is different from surgery. A special medicine is injected into the vein in which the thrombus is found.
This medicine works by causing the upper layer of the affected vein to die and then stick together. Then, after 1. 5 years, this vein dissolves in the human body, and other veins begin to fulfill its work functions.
The drug is prescribed by a phlebologist, and individual treatment is used for each patient. The process of sclerotherapy includes 3-6 procedures, after 2-8 weeks the doctor can determine how this treatment worked.
This procedure can only be performed by experienced specialists, because if the procedure is performed incorrectly, the vein will restore its blood flow through the sclerotic vessel and there will be no therapeutic effect.
In addition to the introduction of drugs, microfoam is injected into the vein during the procedure. For the accuracy of the procedure, an ultrasound scanner is needed, thanks to which the doctor will see the movement of the needle and the process of dispensing the medicine on the screen.
In more complicated cases, when massage, compression underwear, drugs do not help, and the disease goes into a more acute stage, surgery is prescribed for such patients.
Consequences of varicose veins
The consequence of the disease does not promise much good, it is a cosmetic problem, and it is also related to other health problems that appeared as a result of varicose veins. Women who want their legs to be beautiful and slim suffer the most. This is impossible with the development of the disease, but the cosmetic problem is not the main problem. Varicose veins lead to more tangible health problems.
Most often, pain occurs in the legs, accompanied by unpleasant itching. The aching pain results from an insufficient amount of oxygen and other trace elements not being able to reach the affected area. The cause of the pain is the defeat of large veins. But small ships also create unpleasant feelings.
Of course, the cosmetic problem is also important for women, but ankle swelling has more unpleasant consequences. The pain occurs in the upper and lower legs. Even with a good rest, a person will feel constant pain.
Dermatitis - a consequence of varicose veins
The most serious consequence is dermatitis. The disease develops at the site of the expansion of the veins. With such a disease, a person suffers from constant itching, sores and various rashes. The appearance of dermatitis can lead to thrombophlebitis. When a blood clot appears, you should urgently seek professional help. If this is not done, then the consequences can be very serious for a person. Therefore, it cannot be delayed under any circumstances.