In varicose veins or common people, irreversible and permanent elongation and dilation of varicose veins, mainly in the lower extremities and the formation of certain "nodes" due to pathology of the venous walls or genetic defect (insufficiency of their valves).
Today, varicose veins are a very common disease. It affects every tenth man and every third woman. The more you lead a sedentary, inactive lifestyle, the more susceptible you are to this disease.
USA, France, UK - leading countries in varicose veins (more than 30% of the population).
Causes of varicose veins
This utility results in an increase in venous pressure. It is generally accepted that varicose veins are only in the lower extremities, however, there are varicose veins in the esophagus, stomach, testicles, or pelvis.
Incidentally, the latter is one of the causes of a fairly common disease such as hemorrhoids.
The main causes of varicose veins are:
- Gender: In female representatives, varicose veins are often provoked by the intake of various hormonal drugs or pregnancy.
- Heredity
- Increased venous pressure, due in part to weight problems, sedentary sedentary lifestyle.
The above causes contribute to both dilation of the veins and disruption of the normal functioning of the venous valves.
Stages of the disease
The following stages of varicose veins can be distinguished:
- The initial- characterized by painful leg pain, swelling and difficulty. Disease prevention at this stage is, after all, more appropriate.
- First phase- nodular veins and spider veins that are visible through the skin are added to the above symptoms. It can often be a burning sensation in the legs and calves.
- Second stage- the number of varicose veins and stars increases sharply, it becomes more visible. The pain becomes unbearable, the legs are strongly drained.
- Third stage- here the skin of the legs is directly affected. It will be cracked, lifeless and dry. In addition, it is possible to change the pigmentation and structure of the skin on the legs. Venous nodes begin to take on a convex shape.
What happens to varicose veins?
One of the very first symptoms of varicose veins is frequent swelling of the legs, stretching and difficulty in the calves when they sit for a long time.
Furthermore, varicose veins are no less prone to the reduction or disappearance of these symptoms after a night’s rest or walk.
If you do not start treatment on time, the following symptoms will appear: cracking pain in the calves, cramps in the calf muscles, a feeling of heat in the legs.
Also on the legs are red-blue vascular "stars, " the saphenous veins dilate, and intradermal dark blue blood vessels.
With advanced varicose veins, thrombophlebitis (inflammation of dilated veins with blood clots), eczema in the affected areas or trophic ulcers may develop.
In order to eliminate the risks of developing varicose veins, it is necessary to get rid of the main causes of its occurrence and external factors: smoking, alcohol, unhealthy eating.
Varicose veins in the lower extremities develop in the absence of fiber-rich foods in the diet. It is an intestinal cleanser that removes waste, pus, toxins and radionuclides from the body.
Forms of varicose veins
There are the following types (forms) of varicose veins in the lower limb:
- Localized venous lesion with erroneous secretion through communication or abnormal veins.
- Local changes in intradermal or subcutaneous blood vessels without reflux.
- Extensive venous involvement with defective deep venous blood flow.
- Widespread venous injury with impaired blood flow in communicative veins.
In addition, separately, in a form such as the reticular form of varicose veins. This is a type of common varicose vein, accompanied by dilation of the thin intracutaneous veins
Diagnostics
You should contact your venous disease specialist, a phlebologist, immediately if you notice any initial symptoms.
The success of treating varicose veins in the legs depends largely on when you started treatment. Of course, the earlier you see a doctor, the lower the risk of complications.
After the first examination, your doctor will prescribe an instrumental examination, usually a Doppler ultrasound.
Occasionally, radiopaque and radionuclide methods may be used.
These methods inject special substances into the bloodstream and then study their distribution in the blood vessels.
How to treat varicose veins
Varicose veins can be treated in 3 ways:
- Sclerotherapy.
- Performing surgery on varicose veins.
- Medication (conservative treatment).
In addition to the above methods, the complex employs medical knitwear and physiotherapy practices.
The 3 methods are examined in more detail below.
Sclerotherapy
Scleteropia is painless, non-surgical, and most importantly, a high quality and effective method of treating varicose veins. This is a fairly young method of treating varicose veins compared to others.
One of the main advantages of sclerotherapy is that the treatment does not require hospital treatment, i. e. it is done on an outpatient basis and does not affect the patient's normal rhythm of life in any way.
The essence of the method lies in the fact that a special sclerosing drug is carefully injected into the vein of the "patient", which causes a kind of "gluing" of the veins.
After the procedure is completed, a bandage is applied which must be worn for a week. During this time, the vein becomes overgrown, then disappears and blood flow is restored.
Unfortunately, not all types of varicose veins can be treated with this method. If the patient needs surgery, sclerotherapy will not only not help in this case, but may cause a number of complications and possibly worsening.
For example, there is a close-up classification of varicose veins where the varicose veins are divided into grades, and this method is only suitable for the treatment of grade I varicose veins.
As for the consequences of sclerotherapy, this is the short-term preservation of small bruises and mild pigmentation of the "sick" veins.
The method performed by a professional doctor guarantees a lasting result: dilated veins "close" and blood flow never returns through them.
Operation
Varicose veins or varicose veins laser surgery. Currently, this method is one of the most important. On the one hand, there are several contraindications:
- It is recommended to wait at least 5 weeks during pregnancy or in women who have just given birth, as in many cases the varicose veins that develop during pregnancy go away on their own without any intervention.
- If you are concerned only with the aesthetic side of the problem and have no other symptoms (venous inflammation, pain).
- A surgical method to treat varicose veins is only recommended if others make no sense or do not work.
Surgical treatment of varicose veins is usually performed on an outpatient basis without the patient being hospitalized.
There are 3 ways to surgically treat varicose veins - ligation, stripping, and microblebectomy.
- Leagueing- It's a kind of setback. This method is usually used in conjunction with others, such as to supplement stripping or phlebectomy.
- Rip off- a surgical method of treating varicose veins in which the "sick" vein is removed using a thin small probe.
- Microflebectomy- the point is to remove the varicose veins, through a puncture that is made in the skin.
Method of medication
Medication is an equally important element in the treatment of varicose veins. Competently selected medications not only eliminate the fairly basic manifestations of varicose veins, but also reduce the risk of complications.
Most of these medications help relieve swelling and pain syndrome, improve blood flow, and so on.
These medicines help to:
- Improve the lymphatic drainage function.
- Increase the overall venous tone.
- Improving the microcirculation of hemorrheological disorders.
It should be noted that the use of these drugs, like any other, should be done only after a thorough examination and in the manner prescribed by your doctor.
Treatment with folk remedies for varicose veins
In addition to traditional medicine, there are also recipes from the "folk" first aid kit:
- Take a couple of cloves of garlic and chop finely. Note that only white peeled garlic is used! Then mix with two tablespoons of butter. The resulting pulp is applied to the "sore" vessels overnight, on top of baking paper, secured with a tight bandage, and finally wrapped in a warm scarf. After showering in the morning, we dress in some warm clothes.
- Hop infusion is an equally effective folk remedy for varicose veins. Take hop cones (be sure to dry) and pour 1 cup boiling water. Allow to cook for an hour, then feel free to take the infusion half an hour before a meal in a glass.
And remember, varicose veins are not a sentence, it is still possible and necessary to treat, and the sooner you consult a specialist, the easier and more effective the treatment itself will be.
Being healthy!