Varicose veins are a disease accompanied by dilation of subcutaneous veins or veins that are located deep under the skin of the human body.
With this disease, the walls of the veins lose their elasticity, when dilated nodules appear, they expand, forming a blood stasis, and are most visible on the legs of women. They are the ones who most often suffer from this disease. The disease can appear at the age of 20, but more often in middle-aged women. Men also get sick, but much less often.
Causes
Sometimes the cause of varicose veins is the frequent use of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol itself causes vasodilation, but if it is abused, it will lead 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, blood stagnation occurs, which leads to interruption of the natural blood supply to the whole body.
The main factors
What are the causes of varicose veins?
- Heredity. If the parents have weakened the walls of the veins, this can happen again in children.
- The cause of the disease can be high blood pressure. Sometimes it is due to a violation of the hormonal system.
- For many women, pregnancy is difficult, especially at the end of gestation. Initially, the disease does not manifest itself, but after childbirth, all the signs of the disease are on the face. The stress that women endure during childbirth strongly 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. You need to know how to properly regulate the load on the human body.
- People with sedentary jobs, especially office workers, are exposed to the development of varicose veins.
- Constantly standing on your feet is no better - it can also cause illness.
- Women who frequently use contraceptives with a lot of hormones are at risk.
- Hip disease or previous trauma can lead to the development of the disease.
- Overweight people most often have varicose veins. They have a constant load on the venous system.
- Abuse of sunbathing, frequent saunas and alcohol consumption lead to the same situation.
Varicose veins are much easier to avoid than to treat. It is only necessary 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 characters from the photo
As a rule, various symptoms of varicose veins can appear at an early stage, then the disease can still be treated.
As a rule, people rarely think of tired legs in the evening, swelling or varicose veins. If the symptoms appear too severe, then we are talking about a neglected disease.
Early manifestations of varicose veins
As a rule, it is not so easy to recognize the early stage of varicose veins. This is due to the fact that varicose veins have a huge number of symptoms, and few people pay attention to them. People neglect swelling of the legs and fatigue. It is especially true for pregnant women: varicose veins are often not given special importance and it is believed that such a complication is quite normal during pregnancy.
Indeed, varicose veins can be caused by being overweight, but usually the weight disappears after the baby arrives, 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 being overweight leads to venous disease.
Early symptoms of varicose veins are easily noticed: the legs begin to get tired from any physical activity, numb if they are in one position for a long time. But as a rule, rarely does anyone pay attention to this, believing that pain in the legs when overcoming a great distance is normal. In winter, many attribute the pain to the presence of heavy insulated shoes on the feet, while in summer the reason is heat. However, this is just an excuse and there is no truth in it.
It is worth considering the earliest symptoms of varicose veins that can be noticed when diagnosing when contacting a specialist: fatigue in the legs after less physical exertion or pain after wearing heavy shoes, often women wear heels, the presence of pain, burning sensation in the legs in the evening, increased fatigue, deterioration of working ability. If the disease is ignored, the first sign of varicose veins are ulcers.
Diagnosis
From the very beginning of the detection of diseases like varicose veins, it is necessary to probe the veins to determine pain, tension, density, the presence of affected parts of the vein, swelling and inflammation within them. The specialist who performs this examination is called a phlebologist. What to do at the first signs of varicose veins in the legs? First of all, it is necessary to diagnose the severity of the disease.
During the procedure, the patient must take an upright position to keep the veins as full of blood as possible. It is best if the diagnosis is made in the evening - this will allow the affected areas to get a more pronounced contour. With the help of palpation and a superficial examination, the specialist can get the first information about the condition of the patient's blood vessels. After the previous examination, the second phase of the diagnosis of varicose veins begins - examination with the help of ultrasound.
Taking tests during the diagnosis of varicose veins is an important source of information that helps in the proper diagnosis of the disease.
What tests are done if you suspect varicose veins?
The first test is taking blood for hormones, biochemistry and hemoglobin. A general blood test is also taken, its group and rhesus, the infectious group, are determined.
After that, the patient must give urine for analysis in order to determine hemoglobin, sugar, ketone bodies, and this analysis will 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 the inside and find the foci of the disease. This procedure does not take 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 methods of treatment are used.
To treat the first signs of varicose veins on the legs, you must consult a phlebologist, after the examination he will make the correct diagnosis, you cannot treat this disease yourself. If timely treatment is not started, patients may die.
Methods of treating the first signs of varicose veins in the legs:
- sclerotherapy;
- treatment;
- herbs;
- compression underwear;
- surgical intervention.
Traditional methods
They are used only in complex treatment in combination with drugs, it is necessary to take tinctures of nettle, acacia. These tinctures are drunk three times a day before meals, it is useful to make cold foot baths from decoctions of burdock, nettle and birch leaves.
All proposed herbal preparations are taken only with the permission of a physician; it is not recommended to drink decoctions and tinctures on your own.
Drug treatment
Used drugs that have a tonic effect on the veins and are sold in pharmacies in the form of ointments and gels.
To make the use of fat effective, it is also recommended to wear compression underwear.
Compression underwear
This assortment includes leggings, socks, in different phases of varicose veins, different compression of the canvas is prescribed. You can buy such medical tights in specialized stores.
This underwear helps to normalize the venous outflow of blood, the necessary compression force restores the normal functioning of the veins.
Taking medication does not completely cure varicose veins, but it eliminates some symptoms and eases the course of the disease. Also, thanks to the use of various drugs, the risk of manifestation of diseases such as thrombophlebitis is reduced. This disease occurs as a result of a lack of treatment for varicose veins, is only treated in a hospital, and often requires surgery.
Also, for treatment I often use lymphatic drainage massage, thanks to its use in the general course of therapy, the patient improves the outflow of lymph in the legs, reduces edema, fatigue and heaviness in the legs disappear. The only negative effect is massage. It will last only 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 in which the thrombus is located.
This drug works in such a way that the upper layer of the affected vein is destroyed and then glued together. Then, after 1, 5 years, this vein dissolves in the human body, the other veins begin to perform their working functions.
The medicine is prescribed by a phlebologist, and individual treatment is applied for each patient. The course of sclerotherapy includes 3-6 procedures, after some 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 professionals, because if the procedure is performed incorrectly, the vein will restore blood flow through the sclerosed vessel, and there will be no therapeutic effect.
With the use of drugs, when applying this procedure, microfoam is injected into a vein. An ultrasound scanner is required for the accuracy of this procedure, thanks to which the doctor will see on the screen the movement of the needle and the process of distributing the medicine along it.
In severe cases, when massage, compression underwear, medications do not help and the disease progresses to a more acute phase, such patients are prescribed surgery.
Consequences of varicose veins
The consequence of the disease does not bode well, this is a cosmetic problem and is related to other health problems that have arisen as a result of varicose veins. The most vulnerable 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 often there are pains in the legs, which are accompanied by unpleasant itching. Pain occurs due to lack of 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 pots also give unpleasant sensations.
Of course, for women, the cosmetic problem is also important, but the more unpleasant consequences are swollen ankles. The pain disappears in the upper leg and upper leg. Even with good rest, a person will feel constant pain.
Dermatitis - a consequence of varicose veins
The worst consequence is dermatitis. The disease develops at the sites of varicose veins. With such a disease a person suffers from constant itching, wound formation and the appearance of various rashes. The appearance of dermatitis can lead to thrombophlebitis. When a blood clot appears, you must seek professional help immediately. If this is not done, the consequences for the person can be very serious. Therefore, in no case should it be delayed.