Varicose veins are characterized by uneven expansion of the lumen of the veins of the legs, the appearance of nodules on them and an increase in their length. The disease develops gradually, characterized by a chronic course.
Women suffer from varicose veins three times more often than men. And among the representatives of the stronger sex, people who love sports with the maximum load distribution on their legs are prone to this disorder: football, tennis, basketball.
Why do varicose veins occur
There are three types of veins in the bone tissues: superficial, deep, connecting superficial and deep veins. Each vein is a hollow tube through which blood flows from the tissues of the legs to the heart. There are no muscle cells in the veins, so the vein cannot contract to push blood upward. This task is performed by the leg muscles. And valves are located inside the veins - they close their valves at the time of contraction of the skeletal muscles and prevent backflow of blood. Each muscle contraction "pushes" the blood higher.
When the valve valves do not close tightly, some of the blood flows back, stagnates in the vein and presses on the walls and gradually stretches them. The lumen of the vein dilates, its wall is stretched. This is the beginning of varicose veins.
Disease-causing factors:
- Heredity - with a congenital deficiency of collagen fibers, the venous wall is less elastic and prone to stretching.
- Stagnation of blood in the veins of the legs with overweight and obesity, wearing shoes with a heel of more than 3-4 centimeters, with prolonged standing in a place for people with certain professions - hairdressers and salesmen, chefs, lecturers or with prolongedsitting with office workers.
- Changes in hormone levels: the increased content of progesterone in a pregnant woman's blood makes the walls soft and expandable, so the risk of varicose veins during pregnancy increases dramatically.
The first signs of varicose veins - how not to miss
The moment spider veins or spider veins - reticular varicose veins - appear on the legs of the skin is considered an alarm signal for incipient varicose veins. This is not a cosmetic defect, but the beginning of the disease!
At the same time or after a while, the other group of characters joins in - a feeling of heaviness in the legs that spreads in the legs after a long standing or sitting on a chair. When a person starts to walk, the feeling of heaviness decreases: the skeletal muscles push the stagnant blood higher, and the stretch of the vein walls decreases.
Further development of the disease is manifested by edema of the legs - these are marks from socks that are thickened by one leg in relation to the other during visual examination.
Later, pain in the leg muscle bones, rapid fatigue during walking, combined with dry skin on the legs and pigmentation, protrusion of varicose veins and the formation of trophic wounds are combined.
When should I see a vascular surgeon?
When the first spider veins and asterisks appear, you should consult a specialist and, if necessary, perform an ultrasound examination of the veins in the lower extremities and perform varicose veins. The earlier the varicose veins are diagnosed, the more likely it is to stop at an early stage.