Varicose veins are characterized by uneven dilation of the lumen of the veins of the legs, the appearance of nodules on them and an increase in their length. The disease develops gradually, characterized by a chronic course.
Women suffer from varicose veins three times more often than men. And among the stronger sex, people who love sports with maximum load distribution on their feet, are prone to this disease: football, tennis, basketball.
Why do varicose veins appear
There are three types of veins in the tissues of the legs: superficial, deep, connecting superficial and deep veins. Each vein is a hollow tube through which blood flows from the tissues of the legs to the heart. There are no muscle cells in the walls of the veins, so the vein cannot contract to push the blood up. This task is performed by the skeletal muscles of the legs. And the valves are located in the veins - they close their valves during the contraction of skeletal muscles, preventing the return flow of blood. Each contraction of the muscles "pushes" the blood higher.
When the valves do not close tightly, some of the blood flows back, stagnates in the vein, compresses its walls, gradually stretching them. The lumen of the vein dilates, its wall is stretched. This is the beginning of varicose veins.
Disease-causing factors:
- Heredity - in the congenital lack of collagen fibers, the vein wall is less elastic and prone to stretching.
- Blood stasis in the veins of the legs with overweight and obesity, wearing shoes with heels more than 3-4 centimeters, with prolonged standing in one place of people of certain professions - hairdressers and salesmen, chefs, teachers, or whensit for a long time with office workers.
- Changes in hormone levels: Elevated levels of progesterone in a pregnant woman's blood make the walls soft and stretchy, so the risk of varicose veins during pregnancy increases dramatically.
The first signs of varicose veins - how not to miss
The moment when arachnoid veins or arachnoid veins - reticular varicose veins - appear on the skin of the feet, is considered an alarm signal for varicose veins. This is not a cosmetic defect, but the beginning of the disease!
Simultaneously or after some time, the second group of signs joins - a feeling of heaviness in the legs, spreading in the legs after a long standing or sitting in a chair. When a person starts walking, the feeling of heaviness decreases: the skeletal muscles push the stagnant blood upwards and the stretching of the vein walls decreases.
Further development of the disease is manifested by swelling of the legs - these are traces of socks, thickening of one leg relative to the other during a visual examination.
Later calf muscle pain, rapid fatigue when walking joins the dry skin of the legs and its pigmentation, bulging varicose veins and the formation of trophic ulcers.
When to visit a vascular surgeon?
When the first veins and asterisks of a spider appear, you should consult a specialist and, if necessary, perform an ultrasound examination of the veins of the lower extremities and perform varicose vein surgery. The earlier the diagnosis of varicose veins is made, the more likely it is to be stopped at an early stage.