Statistics show that currently every fourth person on Earth suffers from a disease such as varicose veins. However, not everyone understands the danger of varicose veins in the lower extremities. In order to accurately understand this, and also to understand what the danger of the disease is, you need to understand what varicose veins are all about, what causes it to appear.
What is varicose veins
Many people mistakenly think that varicose veins is some kind of harmless disease that creates only a cosmetic defect in the legs, while not threatening human life and health. But this is completely wrong. Varicose veins are considered a dangerous disease that is constantly progressing. This disease is a process in which the patient's blood pressure increases with respect to the walls of the veins. They, in turn, having lost elasticity and weakened, cannot withstand the entire load, starting to expand.
If timely treatment will be absent, then varicose veins are fraught with many unpleasant consequences. Speaking about the danger of varicose veins, it should be noted that some of the consequences of this disease are dangerous even for the life of the patient, as they can lead to a sudden death.
Causes of the disease
There are many reasons that contribute to the occurrence of varicose veins. And before you understand the danger of varicose veins, you should study these causes:
- First of all, heredity should be included here. Unfortunately, the risk of developing the disease almost doubles if at least one of the parents was ill with varicose veins.
- A lot of walking or just long standing in one place can provoke the development of this disease.
- The most prone to varicose veins are representatives of professions who work their main time standing on their feet. These include surgeons, teachers, hairdressers, consultants and a number of other professions.
- When working with weights, or just doing workouts, you must comply with the measure. This is due to the fact that daily, large loads often provoke varicose veins in the legs in men.
Statistics show that varicose veins are most common among women. First of all, this is due to the fact that women's work, one way or another, can be called more upright. In addition, a woman often walks in heels, which also provokes the development of the disease. The bulk of the fair sex suffers from varicose veins due to hormonal disruptions in the body. Most often this is observed during pregnancy.
What is the danger of varicose veins in men and women
Quite a few mistakenly believe that the main danger of this disease is only in an unaesthetic form. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many, arguing about the danger of varicose veins, do not even try to seek help from a specialist. But if you do it in time, then you can cure the disease at an early stage. Launched forms of varicose veins can trigger an exacerbation of serious diseases. Such exacerbations, as a rule, manifest in the form of:
- Thrombophlebitis.
- Phlebitis.
- Thrombosis
- Trophic ulcers.
Violation of trophic tissue of the legs
Considering the danger of varicose veins in men and women, it should be noted that at a certain stage this disease can lead to the fact that blood circulation in the tissues of the lower extremities begins to deteriorate significantly. The consequences of this phenomenon are not considered to be complications, they are included in the number of symptoms of varicose veins. This should include:
- Change the shade of the skin. As a rule, pigmentation forms on the skin, hair begins to fall out, the surface becomes thin, dry, parchment. The skin darkens, acquires a brown tint.
- Lipodermatosclerosis. This condition precedes the formation of trophic ulcers. During it, degradation of adipose tissue is observed. The legs begin to increase in volume, and they can be reduced only with the help of plastic surgery.
- Varicose eczema. With varicose eczema, vesicles appear on the skin. It is accompanied by severe itching. If you comb these vesicles, they begin to open, after which they dry out and become crusty.
- Trophic ulcers. The more pronounced venous insufficiency, the more ulcers become in size, and the worse they heal. An extreme degree of trophic disturbance is the formation of ulcers that never heal at all.
In addition to the above violations, a fairly long healing of any damage to the skin, even the smallest, is also observed. Therefore, a person suffering from severe or moderate varicose veins should be very careful not to allow injuries on his feet.
Varicothrombophlebitis
Varicothrombophlebitis is a thrombotic lesion of already changed veins under the influence of varicose veins. In the future, this pathological process may also extend to the deep veins in the legs. This condition is accompanied by certain symptoms:
- Pain along a vein where blood clots are visually visible.
- Restriction of mobility of the affected limbs due to increased pain.
- The formation of a red strip on the skin over inflamed veins.
- Increased pain during palpation of the affected areas.
- An increase in body temperature to 38 degrees, which is associated with hyperthermia.
These consequences of varicose veins pose a serious health hazard, since varicothrombophlebitis has the ability to progress, simultaneously affecting new vessels. The disease requires immediate surgical intervention.
Acute Deep Vein Thrombosis
If blood clots form in the vessels, always in parallel with this there is a risk of thromboembolic complications of varicose veins. They should be attributed to the most adverse effects of varicose veins. The essence of this pathology is that blood clots break away from blood vessels and, together with blood, penetrate into a deep vein, where it begins to clog its lumen. Obliteration may be incomplete or complete. In the case of a complete overlap of the lumen, a pronounced edema of the affected limbs appears.
Pulmonary embolism
Another dangerous consequence of varicose veins is pulmonary thromboembolism, which in most cases leads to death. Pulmonary thromboembolism is in third place among all the causes of sudden death. Typically, 2% to 5% of patients die from this disease.
The whole essence of this dangerous pathology is that blood clots from deep veins enter the pulmonary arteries, clog the lumen. The prognosis will depend on how large the blood clot was. Statistics show that a third of patients with extensive embolic lesion of the pulmonary arteries die a life already in the first hour after such an event. The rest of the patients receive emergency medical care, as a result of which they survive. However, it is worth paying attention to the fact that in the future such people may develop chronic hypertension in small circles of blood circulation.
Features of the treatment of varicose veins
In order not to think about the danger of varicose veins in women and men, you should immediately proceed to the treatment of this disease at the first manifestations of the disease. As a rule, varicose veins on the legs begin to develop gradually. This can be viewed from several sides. On the one hand, this is good, because the sooner the patient discovers the first symptoms of the disease, the sooner he will be able to begin treatment, preventing the development of varicose veins. On the other hand, many in this case postpone treatment for later, because at present, varicose veins do not bother a person too much. As a result of this, 1% of patients in the future become disabled, and all this happens due to the time of the untreated course of therapy.
In any case, treatment is necessary. The sooner the patient starts treatment, the faster the results will be, and he will not have a question as to what is dangerous for varicose veins.
The main therapy is based on the use of medications. Thanks to them, it is possible to prevent its development even in the early stages of the disease. However, a complete approach requires a comprehensive approach. In addition to medicines, doctors recommend:
- Wear special stockings.
- Wear tights.
- Wear knitted socks.
- Massage.
Sclerotherapy
In addition, there is a very effective way - sclerotherapy. This method of treating varicose veins is that a special drug is injected into the veins suffering from the disease. Of course, at one time it will not be possible to cure varicose veins. Depending on the stage of the disease, several sessions are enough for a full recovery.
The only drawback of this treatment is pain. But you can endure discomfort, after which a person can be sure that varicose veins will not return to him.
Lymphatic drainage
In addition, experts often prescribe lymphatic drainage. It is one of the massage methods, due to which puffiness decreases, and blood outflow increases. However, you should not assume that you can only limit yourself to lymphatic drainage. Unfortunately, the effect of such a procedure is temporary, and there will be no result in the form of recovery with the help of such massage.
The danger of varicose veins during pregnancy
As mentioned earlier, quite often, varicose veins appear in women during pregnancy. If we talk about the danger of varicose veins in women during pregnancy, then at this time, as a rule, the disease is not accompanied by any serious complications. But this will only happen if a woman starts treatment in a timely manner and prevents the progression of the disease. Also, considering whether varicose veins are dangerous during pregnancy, it should be noted that, if pathology is ignored, a woman may experience superficial thrombophlebitis, bleeding during trauma to the skin, venous eczema, and development of venous ulcers on the ankles.
Of particular danger to women is varicose veins of the uterus. But what is the danger of varicose veins of the uterus? Basically, such a pathology is also accompanied by vasodilation on the legs, labia, cervix, and other pelvic organs. Uterine varicose veins is a violation of the outflow of blood fluid. The main cause of which disease is a sharp increase in the uterus during pregnancy. However, it is worth paying attention to the fact that such cases are quite rare in practice.