Varicose veins are a disease accompanied by expansion of the subcutaneous vessels or veins located deep under the skin of the human body.
With this disease, the walls of the veins lose their elasticity when varicose veins appear, they dilate and form blood stasis, most of all they are seen on women’s legs. These are the ones who most often suffer from the disease. The disease can occur from the age of 20, but more in middle-aged women. Men also get sick, but much less often.
Causes
Sometimes the cause of varicose veins is frequent use of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol in itself causes vasodilation, but if abused, it will lead to negative consequences.
Young girls who like to sit on their legs for hours are also at risk of developing the disease. In this position of the legs, blood stagnation occurs, leading to interruptions in the natural blood supply to the whole body.
The main factors
What are the causes of varicose veins?
- Heredity. If the parents had weakened vein walls, this can be repeated in children.
- High blood pressure can be the cause of the disease. Sometimes this is due to a violation of the hormonal system.
- For many women, pregnancy is difficult, especially at the end of pregnancy. At first, the disease does not manifest itself, but after birth, all signs of the disease are on the face. The stress that women endure during childbirth greatly affects the location of the veins.
- Overloading the body with physical muscle work provides all the conditions for the development of the disease. This is common in athletes who exercise. One must be able to properly regulate the load on the human body.
- People with sedentary work, especially office workers, are exposed to the development of varicose veins.
- Constant stay on your feet is not better - it can also give rise to the disease.
- Women who often use contraceptives with many hormones are at risk.
- Disease of the hip joint or previous trauma can give rise to the development of the disease.
- Obese people most often have varicose veins. They have a constant load on the venous system.
- Sunburn, frequent saunas and alcohol consumption lead to the same situation.
Varicose veins are much easier to avoid than healing. You just need to lead a healthy lifestyle, pay attention to good physical fitness plus a normal diet. In this case, there is a high probability of avoiding varicose veins.
How do varicose veins manifest on the legs? The first signs from the picture
As a rule, various symptoms of varicose veins can occur at an early stage, at which point the disease can still be treated.
As a rule, people rarely think about tired legs in the evening, swelling or varicose veins. If the symptoms appear too sharp, we are talking about a neglected disease.
Early manifestations of varicose veins
As a rule, it is not so easy to identify the early stage of varicose veins. This is due to the fact that varicose veins have a large number of symptoms and few people are aware of them. People ignore leg swelling and fatigue. This is especially true for pregnant women: often varicose veins do not get much importance and it is assumed that such a complication is completely normal during pregnancy.
In fact, the cause of varicose veins can be considered too much body weight, but usually the pounds go away according to the baby's appearance, but it also happens that a woman who suffered from varicose veins during pregnancy can not get rid of this disease after giving birth to a child. This is often because it is obesity that leads to venous disease.
The early symptoms of varicose veins are easy to notice: The legs quickly begin to get tired of any physical activity, numb if they are in a position for a long time. But as a rule, there is rarely anyone who is aware of this and thinks that pain in the legs when overcoming a long distance is normal. In winter, many attribute the pain to the presence of heavy insulated shoes on their feet, while in summer the cause is heat. However, this is only an excuse and there is no truth in this.
It is worth considering the earliest symptoms of varicose veins that can be seen during the diagnosis when contacting a specialist: fatigue in the legs after a little physical exertion or pain after wearing heavy shoes, often women with heels face this, the presence ofpain, burning sensation in the legs in the evening, increased fatigue, impaired ability to work. If the disease is neglected, the first sign of varicose veins is sores.
Diagnostics
From the beginning of the detection of a disease such as varicose veins, it is necessary to examine the veins to determine the tenderness, tension, tightness, the presence of parts of the vein that were affected, swelling and inflammation inside them. The specialist who performs this examination is called a phlebologist. What to do at the first signs of varicose veins on the legs? First of all, it is necessary to diagnose the severity of the disease.
During the procedure, the patient should assume an upright position so that the veins fill with blood as much as possible. It is best if the diagnosis is performed in the evening - this allows the affected areas to have a more defined contour. Using palpation and a superficial examination, the specialist can get the very first information about the condition of the patient's vessels. After the preliminary examination is performed, the second phase of the diagnosis of varicose veins begins - examination using ultrasound.
Taking tests during the diagnosis of varicose veins is an important source of information that helps to diagnose the disease correctly.
What tests are performed if you suspect varicose veins?
The first test is blood sampling for hormones, biochemistry and hemoglobin. A general blood sample is also taken, its group and rhesus, the infectious group is determined.
Then the patient must give urine for analysis to also determine hemoglobin, sugar, ketone bodies, and this analysis will also determine acetone and ammonia in the patient's urine.
Ultrasound procedure
Using ultrasound or ultrasound examination of the veins, you can examine the venous system from the inside and find the focus of the disease. This procedure takes no more than half an hour while the patient is in a horizontal position.
Treatment
This disease is very dangerous and widespread throughout the world, depending on the stage of the disease different treatment methods are used.
To treat the first signs of varicose veins in the legs, contact a phlebologist, after the examination he will make the correct diagnosis, you can not treat this disease alone. In the event that timely treatment is not taken, patients may die.
Methods of treating the first signs of varicose veins on the legs:
- sclerotherapy;
- medical care;
- medicinal herbs;
- compression underwear;
- surgical procedure.
Traditional methods
They are used only in complex treatment in combination with medication, you need to take tinctures of stinging nettle, acacia. These tinctures are drunk three times a day before meals, it is useful to make cool foot baths of decoction of burdock, stinging nettle and birch leaves.
All the proposed herbal remedies are made only with the permission of a doctor; it is not recommended to drink decoctions and tinctures alone.
Treatment with medication
Used drugs that have a tonic effect on the veins and are sold at the pharmacy in the form of ointments and gels.
For the use of ointments to be effective, it is also recommended to wear compression underwear.
Compression underwear
This range includes tights, socks, at different stages of varicose veins, different compression of linen is prescribed. You can buy such medical tights in specialty stores.
This underwear helps to normalize the venous outflow of blood, the necessary compression force restores the normal function of the veins.
Taking medication does not completely cure varicose veins, but removes some of the symptoms and eases the course of the disease. Thanks to the use of various drugs, the risk of manifestation of a disease such as thrombophlebitis is also reduced. This disease occurs due to lack of treatment for varicose veins, it is treated only in a hospital and surgery is often required.
Also for treatment I often use lymphatic drainage massage, thanks to its use in the general course of treatment the patient's lymph outflow in the legs improves, edema will decrease, fatigue and heaviness in the legs disappear. The only negative is the effect of the massage. It will only last two months, but then the massage course can be extended.
Sclerotherapy
This type of treatment is used if surgery is needed, but this procedure is different from surgery. A special medicine is injected into the vein where the thrombus is located.
This drug works in such a way that the upper layer of the affected vein is destroyed so that it is connected. After 1, 5 years, this vein dissolves in the human body, other veins begin to perform its work functions.
The drug is prescribed by a phlebologist, individual treatment is used for each patient. The sclerotherapy course includes 3-6 procedures, after a while from 2 to 8 weeks, the doctor will be able to determine how this treatment worked.
This procedure can only be performed by experienced specialists, as if the procedure is performed incorrectly, the vein will restore its blood flow through the sclerosed vessel and there will be no therapeutic effect.
In addition to drug administration, microfoam is injected into the vein using this procedure. In order for the accuracy of this procedure to be necessary, an ultrasound scanner is necessary, thanks to which the doctor will see the movement of the needle and the process of distributing the drug along it.
In more severe cases, when massage, compression underwear, medication do not help, and the disease progresses to a more acute stage, such patients are prescribed surgeries.
The consequences of varicose veins
The consequence of the disease does not bode well, this is a cosmetic problem and associated with other health problems that have arisen as a result of varicose veins. The most affected women are those who want their legs to look beautiful and slim. With the onset of the disease, this is impossible, but the cosmetic problem is not the most important. Varicose veins lead to more tangible health problems.
Most often there is pain in the legs, which is accompanied by unpleasant itching. Pain occurs with insufficient oxygen and other trace elements that cannot pass into the affected area. The cause of the pain is damage to the large veins. But small vessels also give unpleasant sensations.
Of course, a cosmetic problem is also important for women, but the more unpleasant consequences are swollen ankles. The pain disappears in the upper and lower legs. Even with good rest, the person will feel constant pain.
Dermatitis - a consequence of varicose veins
The worst consequence is dermatitis. The disease develops in places with varicose veins. With such a disease a person suffers from constant itching, ulceration and the occurrence of various rashes. The onset of dermatitis can lead to thrombophlebitis. When a blood clot occurs, seek the help of a specialist quickly. If this is not done, the consequences for a person can be very serious. Therefore, it should under no circumstances be delayed.