Varicose veins are a disease accompanied by dilation of 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 dilated nodules appear, they dilate, forming blood stasis, mostly seen on women's legs. 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 also get sick, but much less often.
Reasons
Sometimes the cause of varicose veins is the frequent use of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol itself provokes vasodilation, but if abused, it will lead to 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, blood stasis 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 venous walls, this can happen again 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 in late pregnancy. In the beginning the disease does not appear, but after birth all the signs of the disease are on the face. The stress that women endure during childbirth has a strong effect on 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. One must be able to properly regulate the load on the human body.
- People with sedentary jobs, especially office workers, are exposed to the development of varicose veins.
- Standing on your feet is not better - it can also lead to disease.
- Women who frequently use high-hormone contraceptives 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.
- Tanning abuse, frequent saunas and alcohol consumption lead to the same situation.
Varicose veins are much easier to avoid than to treat. You just need to lead a healthy lifestyle, pay attention to good physical fitness, plus a normal diet. In this case, varicose veins are more likely to be avoided.
How do varicose veins appear on the legs? The first signs of the photo
As a rule, various symptoms of varicose veins can appear at an early stage, at which time the disease is still treatable.
As a rule, people rarely think of tired legs in the evening, swelling or varicose veins. If the symptoms appear too abruptly, then 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 due to the fact that varicose veins have a huge number of symptoms and few people pay attention to them. People ignore swelling of the legs and fatigue. This is especially true for pregnant women: varicose veins are often not given much importance and it is believed that such a complication is quite normal during pregnancy.
In fact, the cause of varicose veins can be considered too much body weight, but usually the weight disappears after the baby, but it also happens that a woman suffering from varicose veins during pregnancy can not get rid of this disease afterbirth of a child. This is often due to the fact that being overweight leads to venous disease.
The early symptoms of varicose veins are easy to notice: the legs quickly begin to get tired from any physical activity, numb if they are in one position for a long time. But as a rule, one rarely pays attention to this, believing that the 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 their feet, while in summer the cause is heat. However, this is only an excuse and there is no truth in it.
It is worth considering the earliest symptoms of varicose veins, which can be seen during the diagnosis in contact with a specialist: fatigue of the legs after a little exercise or pain after wearing heavy shoes, often women who wear heels, face this, the presence of pain, burning sensation in the legs in the evening, increased fatigue, deterioration of performance. If the disease is ignored, then the first sign of varicose veins is an ulcer.
Diagnosis
From the very beginning of the detection of a disease such as varicose veins, it is necessary to examine the veins to determine pain, tension, density, the presence of affected areas of the vein, swelling and inflammation inside 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 should take an upright position so that the veins fill with blood as much as possible. It is best to make the diagnosis in the evening - this will allow the affected areas to acquire a more defined contour. With the help of palpation and superficial examination, the specialist can obtain the first information about the condition of the patient's vessels. After the preliminary examination is performed, the second stage of the diagnosis of varicose veins begins - examination with the help of ultrasound.
Testing 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 to take blood samples for hormones, biochemistry and hemoglobin. A general blood test is performed, its group and rhesus, the infectious group are determined.
The patient must then submit the urine 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 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 takes 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 in the legs, you should consult a phlebologist, after the examination he will make the correct diagnosis, you can not treat this disease alone. If treatment is not taken in time, patients may die.
Methods of treatment of the first signs of varicose veins in the legs:
- sclerotherapy;
- medical treatment;
- medicinal herbs;
- compression underwear;
- surgical intervention.
Traditional methods
They are used only in complex treatment 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 cool 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 alone.
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 ointments effective, it is also recommended to wear compression underwear.
Compression underwear
This range includes tights, socks, at different stages of varicose veins, is prescribed different compression underwear. You can buy such medical tights in specialty stores.
This underwear helps to normalize venous blood flow, the necessary force of compression restores the normal functioning of the veins.
Taking medication does not completely cure varicose veins, but it eliminates some of the symptoms and facilitates the course of the disease. Also, thanks to the use of various drugs, the risk of developing a disease such as thrombophlebitis is reduced. This disease occurs as a result of the lack of treatment for varicose veins, is treated only 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's lymphatic outflow in the legs improves, the swelling will decrease, fatigue and heaviness in the legs disappear. The only downside is the effect of the massage. This 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 medicine is injected into the vein in which the thrombus is found.
This medicine works in such a way that the upper layer of the affected vein breaks down and then sticks together. Then, after 1, 5 years, this vein dissolves in the human body, other veins begin to perform their functions.
The drug is prescribed by a phlebologist, individual treatment is applied to each patient. The course of sclerotherapy includes 3-6 procedures, after some time from 2 to 8 weeks the doctor will be able to determine how this treatment worked.
This procedure can only be performed by experienced specialists, because if the procedure is performed incorrectly, the vein will restore its blood flow through the sclerosed vessel and will have no therapeutic effect.
In addition to the administration of drugs, when this procedure is used, microfoam is injected into a vein. An ultrasound scanner is needed 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 distribution of the medicine on it.
In more difficult cases, when massage, compression underwear, medications do not help and the disease progresses to a more acute stage, such patients are prescribed surgery.
The effects of varicose veins
The consequences of the disease do not bode well, it is a cosmetic problem and is associated with other health problems caused by 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 noticeable health problems.
Most often there is pain in the legs, which is accompanied by unpleasant itching. The pain is caused by insufficient 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 vessels also give unpleasant sensations.
Of course, for women, the cosmetic problem is also important, but the more unpleasant consequences are swollen ankles. The pain passes to the upper and lower legs. Even with good rest, the person will experience constant pain.
Dermatitis - a consequence of varicose veins
The worst consequence is dermatitis. The disease develops in places with varicose veins. In 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 should seek professional help immediately. If this is not done, the consequences for a person can be very serious. Therefore, it should never be postponed.