Problems with blood vessels can turn into very serious diseases. Often people with sore feet after a visit to the doctor ask: "Phlebitis is what?" It turns out that this is a vascular disease that can develop for a long time.
Phlebitis is an inflammatory lesion of the walls of the veins of the lower extremities, which can occur in acute or chronic form. Most often, this disease provokes the development of thrombophlebitis and clogging of blood vessels. If the disease is not treated, then this will lead not only to the formation of blood clots, but also to the deterioration of blood circulation, and hence the nutrition of organs and tissues.
Causes of the appearance of pathology
Phlebitis is a very unpleasant disease. Such factors can cause it:
- Complicated varicose veins.
- Infectious infection of blood vessels due to injury.
- Abscess.
- The inflammatory process in the body.
- A chemical burn of a vein, which some medications can provoke.
- Inflammatory pathology of the abdominal cavity.
- Finding a limb without movement for a long time.
- Violation of metabolic processes in the body.
- Pregnancy and childbirth.
- Allergic reaction.
Phlebitis is a serious illness that requires immediate treatment. However, it can be overcome if you consult a doctor in the early stages.
Varieties of pathology
Phlebitis is a vascular disease that can be classified as follows:
1. The shape of the flow:
- Spicy. It has very bright and severe symptoms. The patient feels severe pain in the area of the affected vessels.
- Chronic. In this case, the symptoms are almost invisible. The patient may feel periodic mild pain, severity.
2. By localization:
- Periflebitis. It is characterized by damage to the upper layer of the vessel. This can only happen if the process of inflammation spreads from the surrounding tissues.
- Endophlebitis. This disease affects the inner lining of the veins. This happens in the process of injury to the vessel due to trauma due to the injection.
- Panflebit. In this case, all vein sheaths are damaged.
3. Depending on the cause of occurrence:
- Pain (during childbirth).
- Migrating.
- Allergic.
- Infectious.
- Postinjection.
- Cubital (due to a chemical burn).
As you can see, phlebitis (what it is, you already know) is an insidious disease that can develop for more than one week. Detection of pathology in the later stages is fraught with a long and complex treatment.
Symptoms of the disease
Phlebitis (what it is, you have already been told) can manifest itself with the following symptoms:
1. With damage to the superficial vessels:
- Tension veins.
- Strong enough pain in the affected area.
- General weakness in the body.
- Increase in general temperature, dizziness in the head.
- Redness of the skin and its tightening on the affected area.
- The appearance of red stripes along the vessels.
2. In acute lesion of deep veins:
- The manifestation of general hyperemia.
- The affected limb begins to swell, and severe pain is felt in the damaged area itself.
- Increase in general body temperature.
- The absence of redness of the skin over damaged vessels.
It should be noted that redness for this type of lesion is not peculiar, as is condensation.
Diagnostic Features
If you are considering phlebitis, treatment should only begin after a thorough examination. In this case, you should contact a phlebologist. He will conduct such studies:
- External examination and palpation of the limb. With superficial pathology, he gropes for seals that will resemble fat lumps. To determine the phlebitis of deep vessels, this procedure is not informative.
- Dopplerography and ultrasound.
- Phlebography.
- CT and MRI, which are performed together with vein contrasting.
- General blood test, which will help determine the degree of coagulation.
- Bacteriological blood culture.
What complications can arise?
Please note that if you have phlebitis, treatment (the drugs in this case are designed to eliminate the inflammation process and improve the elasticity of the vessels) should be done immediately. Otherwise, such complications may arise:
- Thrombophlebitis. This is the appearance of blood clots on the walls of blood vessels. At any time, they can break off and lead to a stroke, heart attack and even instant death.
- Vascular embolism, or occlusion (blockage of blood vessels). Moreover, not only veins of the lower extremities can become clogged, but also other vessels.
- The appearance of abscesses in the tissues that surround the affected vein. This situation can provoke general intoxication.
- Sclerotic irreversible changes in the vascular walls.
Conservative treatment of pathology
If you are diagnosed with phlebitis, treatment should not be delayed. It provides for the implementation of such actions:
- First of all, refuse compression underwear and tight bandages.
- The use of compresses with ointments that help restore the functionality and integrity of blood vessels: Heparin, Troxevasin.
- Reception of anti-inflammatory and non-steroidal medicines: Reopirin, Indomethacin, Butadion, Movalis.
- If you have phlebitis, the drugs "Glivenol", "Trental" will help improve trophic tissue.
- It is also necessary to monitor the density of blood so that blood clots do not form in the vessels. For its dilution, Aspirin Cardio and Cardiomagnyl are used. If the blood flow is greatly slowed down, then it is better to use Heparin.
- If along with damage to the walls of the veins there is a bacterial infection, then to eliminate it, the doctor may prescribe the antibiotic "Cefuroxime".
- Phlebitis of the lower extremities (photo you can see in the article) is treated with leeches.
- Physiotherapeutic procedures: cryotherapy, UHF, acupressure. They help relax muscles, improve blood circulation.
Features of alternative treatment
The presented pathology lends itself well to therapy with unconventional means. The following recipes can help you:
- Application of iodine mesh to the affected area. Thanks to this procedure, you can quickly relieve pain and swelling.
- Tops of red beets. To prepare a therapeutic agent, it is necessary to take 60 g of dry chopped leaves, mix them with 150 g of fresh raw materials and pour a liter of boiling water. Prepare the product in a glass jar, which must be tightly closed and left overnight. After infusion, the broth is filtered and taken in half a glass 3 times a day, after meals.
- Buckwheat gruel helps soothe pain and relieve inflammation. To prepare the product, take 100 g of cereal and grind it in a coffee grinder. Next, mix the raw materials with a little water. Apply the resulting slurry to the affected area. The compress should be washed off with cool water after an hour.
- If you have phlebitis of the lower extremities, treatment with folk remedies will have a positive effect. Horse chestnut is very popular for the treatment of blood vessels. To prepare a healing composition, take 1 tbsp. l crushed bark and fruit powder. Add 200 g of dry red wine to the mixture. Leave the product for 72 hours to insist. After that, add another half liter of olive oil, and then put on a slow fire until all the wine has evaporated. The finished product is used in the form of compresses that need to be applied overnight.
Physiotherapy
It makes it possible to restore the elasticity of blood vessels, their tone. It is enough to perform only 2 exercises daily:
- Sit on the floor with your legs bent at the knees. Place your hands behind and rest them on the floor. Bend your legs at a slow pace, sliding your feet along the surface of the floor. Then, in the same way, return to the starting position.
- Now you should lie on your side. Rest your head with one hand and lay the other in front of you. That limb, which is located on top, all the way up and lift forward, pulling the toe. Next, return the leg to its original position. Repeat the presented exercise at least 10 times with each leg.
Such simple exercises can be performed to prevent phlebitis.
Pathology Prevention
In order for the problems with the vessels to not turn into a very serious disease, it is necessary to prevent them. To do this, it is advisable to follow simple rules of prevention:
- Give up bad habits, especially smoking.
- Periodically, you need to give your legs a rest. In this case, the limbs must be kept slightly above body level. Just put a few pillows under them.
- In the diet, enter vegetables and fruits, dairy products. At the same time, limit or refuse fried and fatty.
- Vitamin K-fortified foods should not be consumed as they thicken the blood.
- If you are prone to varicose veins on the hereditary line, it is necessary to treat its first manifestations in a timely manner. For prevention, you can smear your feet with heparin ointment.
- The development of internal or external abscesses cannot be allowed.
- Try to prevent injury to the veins.
- Reasonable physical activity will strengthen the tone of blood vessels.
- If necessary, take blood thinners.
That's all the features of the development and treatment of phlebitis. Do not self-medicate!