Varicose veins are a disease accompanied by the 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 the varicose ganglia appear they expand forming blood stasis, especially they are seen in the legs of women. They are the ones who most often suffer 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 will have adverse 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, stagnation of blood occurs, which leads to disruptions in the natural supply of blood to the entire body.
The main factors
What are the causes of varicose veins?
- Inheritance. 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 late in pregnancy. At first, 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.
- The overload of the body with physical work of the muscles 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.
- Constant standing is not better, it can also lead to disease.
- Women who often use hormone-rich contraceptives are at risk.
- Hip joint disease or previous trauma can lead to the development of the disease.
- Overweight people often have varicose veins. They have a constant load on the venous system.
- The abuse of tanning, frequent saunas and alcohol consumption lead to the same situation.
Varicose veins are much easier to avoid than to cure. You just need to lead a healthy lifestyle, pay attention to good physical condition, in addition to a normal diet. In this 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 general rule, at an early stage, various symptoms of varicose veins may appear, at which point the disease is still treatable.
As a general rule, people rarely think about tired legs at night, swelling, or varicose veins. If the symptoms appear too abrupt, then we are talking about a neglected disease.
Early manifestations of varicose veins.
As a general 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 pay attention to them. People ignore leg swelling and fatigue. Especially it concerns pregnant women: Varicose veins are often not given special importance and it is believed that during pregnancy this complication is quite normal.
In fact, the cause of varicose veins can be considered too large body weight, but usually the kilograms disappear after the appearance of the baby, 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 quickly begin to tire from any physical activity, numb if they are in one position for a long time. But, as a rule, rarely anyone pays attention to this, believing 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 the feet, while in summer the reason is heat. However, this is just an excuse and there is nothing true in this.
It is worth considering the first symptoms of varicose veins that can be seen during diagnosis when contacting a specialist: fatigue in the legs after little physical exertion or pain after wearing heavy shoes, often women wearing heels are faced with this, the presence of pain, a burning sensation in the legs at night, increased fatigue, impaired ability to work. If the disease is neglected, the first sign of varicose veins is ulcers.
Diagnostics
From the beginning of the detection of a disease such as varicose veins, it is necessary to probe the veins to determine pain, tension, density, the presence of sections of the vein that were affected, swelling and inflammation inside. The specialist who performs this test 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 should take an upright position so that the veins fill with blood as much as possible. It is better if the diagnosis is made at night; This will allow the affected areas to acquire a more delineated outline. With the help of palpation and a superficial examination, the specialist can obtain the first information about the state of the patient's vessels. After the preliminary examination is carried out, the second stage of the diagnosis of varicose veins begins - examination with the help of ultrasound.
Performing tests during the diagnosis of varicose veins is an important source of information that helps to correctly diagnose the disease.
What tests are done if you suspect varicose veins?
The first test is a blood sample to determine hormones, biochemistry, and hemoglobin. A general blood test is also taken, its group is determined, and rhesus - the infectious group.
After that, the patient needs to urinate 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
With the help of an 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 lasts 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 methods of treatment are used.
To treat the first signs of varicose veins on the legs, you need to consult a phlebologist, after the examination, he will make the correct diagnosis, you cannot treat this disease on your own. In case timely treatment is not taken, patients can die.
Methods to treat the first signs of varicose veins on the legs:
- sclerotherapy;
- medical treatment;
- medicinal herbs;
- compression underwear;
- Surgical intervention.
Traditional methods
They are used only in complex treatments in combination with drugs, you need 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 doctor; 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 the pharmacy in the form of ointments and gels.
In order for the use of ointments to be effective, it is also recommended to wear compression underwear.
Compression underwear
This assortment includes stockings, stockings, at different stages of varicose veins, a different compression of clothing is prescribed. You can buy these medicinal stockings in specialized stores.
This underwear helps 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 eliminates some of the symptoms and eases the course of the disease. In addition, thanks to the use of various drugs, the risk of manifestation of a disease such as thrombophlebitis is reduced. This disease occurs as a result of lack of treatment for varicose veins, it is treated only in a hospital, and surgery is often required.
In addition, for the treatment I often use lymphatic drainage massage, thanks to its use in the general course of therapy, it improves lymphatic flow in the patient's legs, edema will decrease, fatigue and heaviness in the legs will disappear. The only negative is the effect of the 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 where the thrombus is located.
This medicine works in such a way that the top layer of the affected vein is destroyed and then sticks together. Then after 1, 5 years, this vein dissolves in the human body, other veins begin to perform their work functions.
The drug is prescribed by a phlebologist, individual treatment is applied for each patient. The sclerotherapy course includes 3-6 procedures, after a time of 2-8 weeks, the doctor will be able to determine how this treatment worked.
This procedure can only be performed by experienced specialists, since 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 administering medications, when using this procedure, microfoam is injected into the vein. For the precision of this procedure, an ultrasound scanner is needed, 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 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 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 main one. Varicose veins cause more tangible health problems.
Most often, there is pain in the legs, which is accompanied by unpleasant itching. Painful pain is 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 glasses 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 in places 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 cause thrombophlebitis. When a blood clot appears, you should urgently seek the help of a specialist. If this is not done, the consequences for a person can be very serious. Therefore, in no case should it be delayed.