Varicose veins are a disease accompanied by the expansion of subcutaneous vessels or veins located deep under the skin of the human body.
With this disease, the walls of the veins lose elasticity, when varicose ganglia appear, they expand, forming blood stasis, especially in the legs of women. They are the ones who suffer most from the disease. The disease can appear from the age of 20, but more in middle-aged women. Men get sick too, but much less often.
Causes
Sometimes the cause of varicose veins is the frequent use of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol itself causes vasodilation, but if abused it can lead to adverse consequences.
Girls who like to sit cross-legged for hours are also at risk of developing the disease. In this leg position, blood stagnation occurs, which leads to interruptions in the natural blood supply to the entire 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.
- Hypertension 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 late in pregnancy. At first the disease does not manifest itself, but after childbirth, all signs of the disease are on the face. The stress women experience during childbirth strongly affects the location of the veins.
- Overloading the body with physical muscular 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, particularly office workers, are exposed to the development of varicose veins.
- Constantly standing is no better - it can also cause illness.
- Women who use contraceptives with lots of hormones are at risk.
- Hip joint disease or previous trauma can give rise to the development of the disease.
- Overweight people often have varicose veins. They have a constant load on the venous system.
- Tanning abuse, frequent saunas and alcohol consumption lead to the same situation.
Varicose veins are much easier to prevent than to cure. You just need to lead a healthy lifestyle, pay attention to good physical fitness, and a normal diet. In that case, there is a high probability of avoiding varicose veins.
How do varicose veins manifest in the legs? The first signs of the photo
As a rule, at an early stage, various symptoms of varicose veins may appear, at which time the disease is still treatable.
As a rule, people rarely think of tired legs at night, swelling or varicose veins. If symptoms appear very acutely, 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 because varicose veins have a large number of symptoms and few people pay attention to them. People ignore leg swelling and fatigue. Especially with regard to pregnant women: often varicose veins are of no special importance and it is believed that during pregnancy such a complication is normal.
In fact, the cause of varicose veins can be considered a very large body weight, but generally the kilograms disappear after the baby appears, but it also happens that a woman who suffered from varicose veins during pregnancy cannot get rid of this disease after the birth of a child. This is often due to the fact that it is excess weight that leads to venous disease.
The first symptoms of varicose veins are easy to notice: the legs begin to tire quickly with any physical activity, numb if they stay in the same position for too long. But, as a rule, one rarely pays attention to this, believing that leg pain when covering a long distance is normal. In winter, many attribute the pain to the presence of heavy shoes with thermal insulation on the feet, while in summer the reason is the heat. However, this is just an excuse and there is no truth to this.
It is worth considering the first symptoms of varicose veins that can be seen during diagnosis when contacting a specialist: tiredness in the legs after little physical exertion or pain after wearing heavy shoes, women who wear heels often face this, the presence of pain, burning sensation legs at night, increased fatigue, deterioration of work capacity. If the disease is neglected, the first sign of varicose veins is an ulcer.
Diagnosis
From the beginning of detecting a disease such as varicose veins, it is necessary to probe the veins to determine pain, tension, density, the presence of affected sections of the vein, swelling and inflammation within it. The specialist who performs this examination is called a phlebologist. What to do at the first signs of varicose veins in the legs? First, it is necessary to diagnose the severity of the disease.
During the procedure, the patient should be in an upright position so that the veins are filled with as much blood as possible. Diagnosis is best done at night - this will allow the affected areas to take on a more delineated outline. With the help of palpation and a superficial examination, the specialist can obtain initial information about the condition of the patient's vessels. After performing the preliminary examination, the second stage of the diagnosis of varicose veins begins - examination with the aid of ultrasound.
Testing during the diagnosis of varicose veins is an important source of information that helps in the correct diagnosis of the disease.
What tests are done if you suspect varicose veins?
The first test is a blood draw for hormones, biochemistry and hemoglobin. A general blood test is also done, your group and rhesus, the infectious group, are determined.
After that, the patient must urinate for analysis to also determine hemoglobin, sugar, ketones, and this analysis will also determine acetone and ammonia in the patient's urine.
ultrasound procedure
With the help of ultrasound or ultrasound examination of the veins, you can examine the venous system from within and find the foci of disease. This procedure takes no more than half an hour, with the patient in a horizontal position.
Treatment
This disease is very dangerous and widespread all over 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, it is necessary to consult a phlebologist, after the exam he will make the correct diagnosis, you cannot treat this disease alone. In case the timely treatment is not carried out, patients may die.
Methods for treating early signs of varicose veins in the legs:
- sclerotherapy;
- medical treatment;
- Medicinal herbs;
- compression underwear;
- surgical intervention.
traditional methods
They are used only in complex treatments in combination with medicines, it is necessary to take tinctures of nettle, acacia. These tinctures are consumed three times a day before meals, being useful for preparing footbaths with decoctions of burdock, nettle and birch leaves.
All proposed herbal preparations are taken only with the permission of a doctor, it is not recommended to drink decoctions and tinctures on your own.
drug treatment
Used medicines 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 assortment includes tights, socks, different stages of varicose veins, different linen compressions are prescribed. You can buy these medicated socks at specialty stores.
These underwear help to normalize the venous flow of blood, the necessary compression force restores the normal functioning of the veins.
Taking medication does not completely cure varicose veins, but it does remove some of the symptoms and ease the course of the disease. Furthermore, thanks to the use of various medications, the risk of developing a disease such as thrombophlebitis is reduced. This disease occurs as a result of lack of treatment for varicose veins, is treated only in a hospital, and surgery is often required.
In addition, for the treatment, I usually use lymphatic drainage massage, thanks to its use in the general course of therapy, the patient's lymph flow in the legs improves, edema decreases, fatigue and heaviness in the legs disappear. The only downside is the massage effect. 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 medication is injected into the vein where the thrombus was found.
This medicine works in such a way that the upper layer of the affected vein is destroyed and then it adheres. Then, after 1, 5 years, this vein dissolves in the human body, other veins start to carry out their work functions.
The drug is prescribed by a phlebologist, with individual treatment being applied to each patient. The course of sclerotherapy includes 3-6 procedures, after a time of 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 incorrect, the vein will restore its blood flow through the sclerosed vessel, and there will be no therapeutic effect.
In addition to administering medication, in this procedure, the microfoam is injected into the vein. For the accuracy of this procedure, an ultrasound scanner is necessary, thanks to which the physician will see on the screen the movement of the needle and the process of drug distribution along it.
In more difficult cases, when massage, compression underwear, medications do not help and the disease progresses to a more acute stage, these patients are prescribed surgeries.
The consequences of varicose veins
The consequence of the disease does not bode well, it is a cosmetic problem and is associated with other health problems that arise as a consequence of varicose veins. The most affected women are those who want their legs to look beautiful and slender. With the onset of the disease, this is impossible, but the cosmetic problem is not the main one. Varicose veins lead to more tangible health problems.
Most of the time, there is pain in the legs, which is accompanied by an unpleasant itching. Painful pain occurs due to insufficient oxygen and other trace elements that cannot pass to the affected area. The cause of pain is damage to the large veins. But small vessels also give unpleasant sensations.
Of course, for women, a cosmetic problem is also important, but the most unpleasant consequences are swollen ankles. The pain goes away in the upper and lower legs. Even with a good rest, the person will feel constant pain.
Dermatitis - a consequence of varicose veins
The worst consequence is dermatitis. The disease develops at sites of varicose veins. With this disease, the person suffers from constant itching, formation of sores and appearance of various skin rashes. The appearance of dermatitis can cause thrombophlebitis. When a blood clot appears, you need to seek specialist help urgently. If this is not done, the consequences for a person can be very serious. Therefore, in no case should it be postponed.