Varicose veins are a problem not only for the elderly, but also for very young people. How often does it happen that a young woman after giving birth gets bulging knotted veins on her legs, pain, and other problems of varicose veins.
Signs of varicose veins in the legs
Early signs of varicose veins on the legs are considered the appearance of small vessels on the surface of the skin. They appear in small groups on the thighs. This is especially true with cellulite. In this way, cellulite is directly related to varicose veins. The fatty tissue altered by cellulite makes it difficult for blood to flow from the lower legs and increases the risk of developing varicose veins. Blood vessels that appear on the skin are called telangiectasia by doctors. This vascular network is formed by small vessels, which can be a simple cosmetic defect, or it can serve as a sign of the beginning of varicose veins.
To find out if you are at risk of developing varicose veins, it is recommended to see a doctor. The doctor will also advise which treatment method should be used for the vascular network. Another symptom of varicose veins is leg swelling. However, the legs can swell in other diseases (kidney disease, heart disease, etc. ), so this disease must be ruled out first. And finally, the most unpleasant symptom of varicose veins and indication is pain in the legs. Pain usually appears in the evening, the field of heavy physical exertion. Calf muscles are sore, pulling pains and not too strong.
So, if you have these symptoms: spider veins, swelling, pain in the legs - you should see a doctor.
Medical treatment of varicose veins of the legs
There are many drugs that are effective in the early stages of varicose vein treatment. This is a so-called venotonic medicine. They give significant results only in complex therapy. So, to increase the venotonic effect, patients with varicose veins should always wear compression stockings. These are special stockings, tights and tights. They gently compress the diseased limb without squeezing the vessel. Therefore, the veins receive additional tone, and the disease progresses more slowly.
However, special attention is paid to the fact that drug treatment cannot completely eliminate varicose veins. This is just a reduction of venous insufficiency, prevention of thrombophlebitis (which often complicates the life of people with advanced varicose veins on the legs).
The doctor may advise the patient to undergo a course of lymphatic drainage. This is a special sequence that is performed manually or by hardware. After lymphatic drainage, the swelling decreases, the outflow of blood and lymph from the lower part of the leg improves. However, the effect of this procedure is temporary, short-term, so it is impossible to refuse to take venotonics and wear compression stockings.
Folk remedies in the treatment of varicose veins
In addition to medical treatment of varicose veins, you can try to use folk remedies. So, bathing gives a good effect. Gradually, over several days, you need to massage your feet with water jets from the shower. Every day, by lowering the water temperature a little, you will gradually switch to cold water - and this will give the most noticeable results. If it is difficult to pour cold water on yourself, arrange a contrast shower for yourself: turn on hot water and then cold water for a few seconds, and you must finish the procedure with cold water. After such a bath, the feet should be red. Rub them with a towel and grease with nourishing cream.
Foot baths are very helpful. Note that with varicose veins, you should not take a hot shower.
So that your feet are not tired during the day, make a bath according to this recipe in the morning. Birch leaves, nettles and burdock (each taken 1 tablespoon) are brewed with 1 liter of boiling water and infused for half an hour. Next, the resulting soup must be diluted with warm water (to bring it to body temperature), and you can take a shower. Keep your feet in the stew for at least 20 minutes.
Tone the feet and bathe with lemon balm, oregano, chamomile and nettle. Take 2 cups of the mixture (mix all herbs in equal parts) and mix with a liter of boiling water. After the soup is infused, add 2 liters of water, and keep your feet in a warm bath for 20 minutes.
Note that folk remedies cannot completely treat varicose veins, but will only stop their development.
What is sclerotherapy?
Sclerotherapy is one of the most effective non-surgical treatments for varicose veins. The essence of the method lies in the fact that the doctor injects a special drug into the veins transformed by varicose veins. This drug causes the destruction of the inner layer of the vein, and then the vein itself gradually sticks together and resolves within 1. 5 years. Blood circulation begins through healthy veins. Treatment requires 3-6 sclerotherapy sessions for each leg. After a sclerotherapy session, you will see the results only after 2-8 weeks, and during this time, there may be unpleasant phenomena: hematoma, tingling, pain. But over time, this will pass, and the swollen veins will disappear. Doctors choose drugs individually for each patient, so the risk of side effects and complications is minimal. After high-quality sclerotherapy, varicose veins rarely recur.
If sclerotherapy is performed using an ultrasound scanner, then it is called echosclerotherapy. This method is better because the scanner allows the doctor to fully control the movement of the syringe in the vein, and monitor the uniform distribution of the drug.
Foam sclerotherapy is a method in which medicine in the form of microfoam is injected into the affected vein. Microfoam has a closer contact with the vein wall and this leads to a higher efficiency of this method. Microfoam forces the blood out of the veins - and therefore the veins stick together and stop working faster. In addition, the blood removed from the vein does not dilute the drug, as in conventional sclerotherapy, so the drug works more effectively.
Operation for varicose veins
One of the most modern surgical methods for the treatment of varicose veins of the legs is the operation under tumescent anesthesia. It is a type of local anesthesia based on a mixture of natural anesthetics. This method has many advantages: the patient leaves the clinic within 2 hours after the operation, there is almost no hematoma after the operation, there is no hangover that occurs with general anesthesia. Veins are removed radically, the effects persist for years.
Operations under general anesthesia are no less effective, with the only difference being that patients tolerate local anesthesia more easily than general anesthesia.
Miniphlebectomy - this operation is performed under local anesthesia. The doctor makes a puncture through which he removes the tributaries of the varicose veins. This operation can serve as a substitute for sclerotherapy in some cases. The patient recovers quickly, there are no scars, and compression stockings only need to be worn for 1-2 weeks.
Short stripping - this method involves removing not the entire vein, but only the affected area. The doctor determines the exact position of the diseased vein, its length, then two small incisions are made through which the varicose veins are removed. The operation turned out to be short, the soft tissue of the leg was not cut - this allowed the patient to recover quickly and not experience pain after the operation.
Endoscopic vein surgery methods are now widely used. In simple words, an incision is made in the affected vein, where the endoscope is inserted. The doctor gets a chance to see the inside of the affected vein. Moving the endoscope, the doctor knows the length of the varicose vein, and then cuts it. The advantage of this method is that the doctor sees everything he does, this allows him not to make mistakes and minimize the inevitable trauma to the patient during the operation. This is a very promising method for the treatment of varicose veins, because the result of such an operation is a gradual decrease in the lack of veins and an improvement in the condition of the veins.
Intravascular laser coagulation is another low-traumatic method for the treatment of varicose veins. An ultrasound scanner controls the introduction of a light guide into the vein. Then the light guide is moved to the point where the vein enters the deep venous system. The laser is turned on, under the action of which the blood plasma boils, and the diseased vein is safely closed and stops working.
Often, varicose veins suffer from generation to generation. Doctors do not know exactly why the disease occurs, but they believe that those whose grandmothers and mothers have varicose veins should be careful with their legs. As a preventive measure, it is recommended to run, swim, do bath massage, try not to gain weight, eat right and . . . never give up!