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 childbirth acquires bulging nodes on the legs, pain and other troubles of varicose veins.
Signs of varicose veins in the legs
The initial 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 hips. This is especially noticeable with cellulite. By the way, cellulite is directly related to varicose veins. Fat tissue altered by cellulite makes it difficult for blood to drain from the lower extremities and increases the risk of developing varicose veins. The vessels that appear on the skin are called telangiectasias by doctors. These vascular networks are formed by small vessels, which can be a simple cosmetic defect or can serve as a sign of the appearance of varicose veins.
To find out if you are at risk of varicose veins, it is recommended to consult a doctor. The doctor will also advise the treatment method to be used for vascular networks. Another symptom of varicose veins is swelling of the legs. However, the legs can swell with other diseases (kidney, heart, etc. ), so these diseases should be ruled out first. Finally, the most unpleasant and telling symptom of varicose veins is leg pain. The pain usually appears in the afternoon hours, a field of heavy physical exertion. The calf muscles hurt, the pain is pulling and not very strong.
So, if you have these symptoms: veins, swelling, pain in the legs - you should consult a doctor.
Medical treatment of varicose veins of the legs
There are many drugs effective in the initial stages of treating varicose veins of the legs. These are the so-called venotonic drugs. They give tangible results only in complex therapy. So, to enhance the effect of venotonics, patients with varicose veins should constantly wear compression stockings. These are special socks, stockings and tights. They gently press the diseased limb without pressing the vessels. Thus, the veins receive additional tone and the disease develops more slowly.
However, special attention is paid to the fact that drug treatment cannot completely get rid of varicose veins. This is only a reduction of venous insufficiency, prevention of thrombophlebitis (which often complicates the life of people with advanced varicose veins of the legs).
The doctor may advise the patient to undergo a course of lymphatic drainage. This is a special massage performed manually or with a device. After lymphatic drainage, the swelling decreases, the outflow of blood and lymph from the lower extremities improves. However, the effect of this procedure is temporary, short-lived, so it is impossible to refuse to take venotonics and wear compression stockings.
Folk remedies for the treatment of varicose veins
In addition to medical treatment of varicose veins, you can try using folk remedies. So the shower gives a good effect. Gradually, over several days, you should massage your feet with a stream of water from the shower. Every day, by slightly reducing the temperature of the water, you will gradually switch to cold water - and this will give the most significant result. If it is difficult for you to pour yourself with cold water, organize a contrast shower: turn on hot and then cold water for a few seconds, and you must finish the procedure with cold water. After such a shower, the legs should be red. Rub them with a towel and apply a nourishing cream.
Foot baths are helpful. Note that with varicose veins you cannot take a hot bath.
So that your feet don't get tired during the day, take a bath according to this recipe in the morning. Leaves of birch, nettle and burdock (1 tablespoon each) are brewed with 1 liter of boiling water and insisted for half an hour. After that, the resulting broth should be diluted with warm water (so that it is brought to body temperature) and you can take a bath. Keep your feet in the potion for at least 20 minutes.
Tonifies the vessels of the feet and a bath of lemon balm, oregano, chamomile and nettle. Take 2 cups of the mixture (mix all herbs in equal parts) and infuse with a liter of boiling water. After the broth is infused, add 2 liters of water and keep your feet in a warm bath for 20 minutes.
Keep in mind that folk remedies cannot completely cure 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 consists in the fact that the doctor injects a special drug into the vein changed by varicose veins. This drug causes destruction of the inner layer of the vein, after which the vein itself gradually coalesces and heals over a period of 1. 5 years. Blood circulation begins to flow through healthy veins. Treatment requires 3-6 sclerotherapy sessions for each leg. After the sclerotherapy sessions, you will see the result only after 2-8 weeks, and during all this time there may be unpleasant phenomena: hematomas, numbness, pain. But with time this will pass and the swollen veins will disappear. The doctor selects the drug individually for each patient, so the risk of side effects and complications is minimal. After high-quality sclerotherapy, varicose veins very 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. The microfoam has a closer contact with the vein walls and this leads to a higher efficiency of this method. The microfoam pushes the blood out of the vein - and therefore the vein clots and stops functioning more quickly. In addition, the blood ejected from the vein does not dilute the drug, as in conventional sclerotherapy, so the drug works more effectively.
Surgery 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. This 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 are almost no postoperative hematomas, there is no intoxication that occurs with general anesthesia. The vein is removed radically, the effect is preserved for many years.
Operations under general anesthesia are no less effective, with the only difference that patients tolerate local anesthesia much more easily than general anesthesia.
Miniphlebectomy - this operation is performed under local anesthesia. The doctor makes incisions through which he removes the enlarged tributaries of the veins. This surgery can serve as a substitute for sclerotherapy in some cases. Patients recover quickly, there is no scarring, and compression stockings only need to be worn for 1-2 weeks.
Short stripping - this method involves the removal not of the entire vein, but only of its affected area. The doctor determines the exact position of the diseased vein, its length, after which two small incisions are made through which the dilated vein is removed. The operation is short, the soft tissues of the leg are not cut - this allows the patient to recover quickly and not feel pain after the operation.
The endoscopic venous dissection method is now widely used. In simple words, an incision is made on the affected vein into which an endoscope is inserted. The doctor gets an opportunity to see the inside of the affected vein. By moving the endoscope, the doctor finds the length of the varicose vein and then cuts it off. The advantages of this method are that the doctor sees everything he does, this allows him not to make mistakes and minimize the trauma that the patient inevitably receives during the operation. This is a very promising method for the treatment of varicose veins, since the result of such an operation is a gradual reduction of venous insufficiency and improvement of the condition of the veins.
Intravascular laser coagulation is another minimally invasive method for treating varicose veins. An ultrasound scanner controls the introduction of a light guide into the vein. The catheter is then moved to the point where the vein enters the deep venous system. A laser is turned on, under the action of which the blood plasma boils, and the diseased vein is reliably closed and ceases to function.
Most 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 had varicose veins should be especially careful about their legs. As preventive measures, it is recommended to run, swim, do a shower massage, not gain weight, eat properly and . . . never fall!