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 acquires bulging knotty veins on her legs after childbirth, pain, and other troubles of varicose veins.
Signs of varicose veins in the legs
The initial signs of varicose veins of the legs are considered to be the appearance of small vessels on the surface of the skin. They appear in small groups on the thighs. This is especially noticeable with cellulite. By the way, cellulite is directly related to varicose veins. Fatty tissue altered by cellulite makes it difficult for blood to drain from the lower extremities and increases the risk of developing varicose veins. Vessels that appear on the skin doctors call telangiectasias. These vascular networks are formed by small vessels, which can be a simple cosmetic defect, or they can serve as a sign of the onset 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 method of treatment that should be used for vascular networks. Another symptom of varicose veins is swelling of the legs. However, legs can swell in other diseases (diseases of the kidneys, heart, etc. ), so these diseases must first be ruled out. And finally, the most unpleasant and indicative symptom of varicose veins is pain in the legs. The pain usually appears in the afternoon, a field of heavy physical exertion. The calf muscles hurt, the pain is pulling and not very strong.
So, if you have these symptoms: spider 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 the treatment of varicose veins of the legs. These are the so-called venotonic drugs. They give tangible results only in complex therapy. So, in order to enhance the effect of venotonics, patients with varicose veins should constantly wear compression stockings. These are special stockings, stockings and tights. They gently compress the diseased limb without squeezing the vessels. Thus, the veins receive additional tone, and the disease develops more slowly.
However, special attention should be paid to the fact that drug treatment cannot completely get rid of varicose veins. This is only a decrease in venous insufficiency, the 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 by hardware. After lymphatic drainage, 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 in the treatment of varicose veins
In addition to the medical treatment of varicose veins, you can try using folk remedies. So, a shower gives a good effect. Gradually, over several days, you need to massage your legs with a jet of water from the shower. Every day, by lowering the water temperature a little, you will gradually switch to cold water - and this will give the most significant result. If it is difficult to pour cold water on yourself, arrange a contrast shower for yourself: 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 turn red. Rub them with a towel and grease with a nourishing cream.
Foot baths are helpful. Note that with varicose veins, you can not take hot baths.
So that your legs do not get tired during the day, make a bath according to this recipe in the morning. Leaves of birch, nettle and burdock (each taken 1 tablespoon) are brewed with 1 liter of boiling water and infused for half an hour. Next, the resulting broth must be diluted with warm water (so as to bring it to body temperature), and you can take a bath. Keep your feet in the decoction for at least 20 minutes.
Tones the vessels of the legs and a bath of lemon balm, oregano, chamomile and nettle. Take 2 cups of the mixture (mix all herbs in equal parts) and brew 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.
Note that folk remedies cannot fully implement the treatment of varicose veins, but only stop its development.
What is sclerotherapy?
Sclerotherapy is one of the most effective non-surgical treatments for varicose veins. The essence of the method is that the doctor injects a special drug into the vein changed by varicose veins. This medicine causes the destruction of the inner layer of the vein, and then the vein itself gradually sticks together and resolves over a period of 1. 5 years. Blood circulation begins to go through healthy veins. Treatment requires 3-6 sclerotherapy sessions for each leg. After sclerotherapy sessions, you will see the result only after 2-8 weeks, and all this time, there may be unpleasant phenomena: hematomas, tingling, pain. But over time, this will pass, and 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-form sclerotherapy is a method in which a drug in the form of microfoam is injected into the affected vein. The microfoam has closer contact with the walls of the vein and this leads to a higher efficiency of this method. The microfoam forces the blood out of the vein - and therefore the vein sticks together and ceases to function faster. In addition, the blood expelled from the vein does not dilute the drug, as with conventional sclerotherapy, so the drug works more effectively.
Operations for varicose veins
One of the most modern surgical methods for the treatment of varicose veins of the legs is an operation under tumescent anesthesia. It 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 persists for many years.
Operations under general anesthesia are no less effective, with the only difference being that patients tolerate local anesthesia much more easily than general anesthesia.
Miniphlebectomy - this operation is carried out under local anesthesia. The doctor makes punctures through which he removes varicose tributaries of the veins. This operation can serve as a substitute for sclerotherapy in some cases. Patients recover quickly, there are no scars, and compression stockings need to be worn for only 1-2 weeks.
Short stripping - this method involves the removal of not the entire vein, but only its affected area. The doctor determines the exact position of the diseased vein, its length, then two small incisions are made through which the varicose vein is removed. The operation turns out to be short, the soft tissues of the leg are not cut - this allows the patient to recover quickly and not experience pain after the operation.
The method of endoscopic vein dissection is now widely used. In simple words, an incision is made on the affected vein, into which an endoscope is inserted. The doctor gets the opportunity to see the inside of the affected vein. Moving the endoscope, the doctor finds out 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 consequence of such an operation is a gradual decrease in venous insufficiency and an improvement in the condition of the veins.
Intravascular laser coagulation is another low-traumatic method for the treatment of varicose veins. An ultrasound scanner controls the introduction of a light guide into the vein. Then the light guide is 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 securely 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, try not to gain excess weight, eat right and . . . never lose heart!