Varicose veins - a disease accompanied by the expansion of the subcutaneous vessels or veins located deep under the skin of the human body. With this disease, the walls of the veins lose their elasticity, with the appearance of varicose nodes expand, forming blood stasis, most of them are visible on the legs of women. More often they suffer from the disease. The disease can occur at the age of 20 years, but more in middle-aged women. Men are also sick, but much less often.
Causes
Sometimes the cause of varicose veins is the frequent use of alcohol. Alcohol in itself provokes vasodilatation, but if abused, it will lead to adverse consequences.
Young girls who like to sit for hours with their legs crossed are also at risk of developing the disease. In this position of the legs, blood stagnation occurs, which leads to interruptions in the natural blood supply to the whole organism.
Key factors
What are the causes of varicose veins?
- Heredity. If the parents had weakened walls of the veins, then this can be repeated in children.
- The cause of the disease can be high blood pressure. Sometimes this is due to a violation of the hormonal system.
- In many women, pregnancy is difficult, especially at the end of the gestation. At first, the disease does not manifest itself, but after childbirth all the signs of the disease are on the face. The tension that women carry during childbirth, strongly affects the location of the veins.
- Overloading the body with the physical work of muscles gives all the conditions for the development of the disease. This is often found in athletes who exercise. You must be able to properly regulate the load on the human body.
- People with inactive work, in particular office workers, are exposed to the development of varicose veins.
- Permanent stay on your feet is no better - it can also give impetus to the disease.
- Women who often use contraceptives with lots of hormones are at risk.
- Hip joint disease or trauma can cause the disease to develop.
- Overweight people are most likely to get varicose veins. They have a constant load on the venous system.
- Abuse of tanning, frequent adventures in saunas and drinking alcohol lead to the same situation.
Varicose veins are much easier to avoid than to cure. You just need to lead a healthy lifestyle, pay attention to good physical fitness, plus a normal diet. In this case, there is a high probability of avoiding varicose veins.
How does varicose veins appear on the legs? The first signs with a photo
As a rule, already at an early stage various symptoms of varicose veins can appear, at which time the disease is still treatable.
As a rule, people rarely think about leg fatigue in the evenings, swelling, or varicose veins. If the symptoms manifest themselves too sharply, 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 leg swelling and fatigue. Especially it concerns pregnant women: often varicose veins are not given much importance and they believe that such a complication is quite normal during pregnancy.
Indeed, the cause of varicose veins can be considered too much body weight, but usually the kilograms leave after the baby is born, but it also happens that a woman suffering from varicose veins during pregnancy cannot get rid of this disease after giving birth. Often this is due to the fact that it is overweight that leads to venous disease.
It is not difficult to notice the early symptoms of varicose veins: the legs begin to quickly get tired from any physical activity, they become numb if they are in one position for a long time. But, as a rule, rarely does anyone pay attention to this, considering that pain in the legs when covering a long distance is normal. In winter, many attribute the pain to the presence of heavy insulated shoes on their feet, in the summer the heat becomes the cause. However, this is just an excuse, and there is no truth in it.
It is worth considering the earliest symptoms of varicose veins that can be noticed during diagnosis when contacting a specialist: leg fatigue after light exercise or pain after wearing heavy shoes, often women who wear heels, the presence of pain, burning in legs in the evenings, fatigue, poor performance. If the disease is neglected, then the first sign of varicose veins is ulcers.
Diagnostics
From the very beginning of the detection of a disease such as varicose veins, it is necessary to probe the veins to determine soreness, tension, density, the presence of sections of the vein that were affected, swelling and inflammation inside them. The specialist who is involved in this examination is called a phlebologist. What to do at the first sign of varicose veins on 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 are filled with blood as much as possible. Best of all, if the diagnosis is carried out in the evening, this will allow the affected areas to acquire a more defined contour. Using palpation and a superficial examination, a specialist can get the very first information regarding the condition of the patient's blood vessels. After the preliminary examination is carried out, the second stage of the diagnosis of varicose veins begins - the study using ultrasound.
Testing during the diagnosis of varicose veins is an important source of information that helps diagnose the disease correctly.
What tests are given for suspected varicose veins?
The first test is taking blood for hormones, biochemistry, and hemoglobin. A general blood test is also taken, its group and rhesus, an infectious group are determined.
After this, the patient must pass urine for analysis to determine also hemoglobin, sugar, ketone bodies, also this analysis will determine acetone and ammonia in the patient's urine.
Ultrasonography
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, at which time the patient is in a horizontal position.
Treatment
This disease is very dangerous and widespread throughout the world, depending on the stage of the course of the disease, different methods of treatment are used.
To treat the first signs of varicose veins in the legs, you need to consult a phlebologist, after the examination he will make the correct diagnosis, you can not treat this disease on your own. In the event that timely treatment is not accepted, patients may die.
Methods of treating the first signs of varicose veins in the legs:
- sclerotherapy;
- medical treatment;
- medicinal herbs;
- compression underwear;
- surgical intervention.
Folk methods
They are used only in complex treatment in combination with drugs, you need to take tinctures from 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 the proposed herbal preparations are taken only with the permission of the doctor, it is not recommended to drink decoctions and tinctures on your own.
Drug treatment
Such drugs, which have a tonic effect on the veins, are sold in the pharmacy in the form of ointments and gels. This is Venoruton, Troxevasin, Troxerutin, Lyoton.
In order for the use of these ointments to become effective, it is also recommended to wear compression underwear.
Compression underwear
This assortment includes panty hoses, stockings, at various stages of varicose veins, various compression of linen is prescribed. You can buy such medical tights in specialized stores.
This underwear helps to normalize the venous outflow of blood, compression of the necessary strength restores the normal functioning of the veins.
Taking medications does not completely treat varicose veins, but removes some symptoms and facilitates the course of the disease. Also, through the use of various drugs, the risk of a disease such as thrombophlebitis is reduced. This disease appears as a result of the lack of treatment for varicose veins, it is treated only in a hospital, and often requires surgery.
Also, I often use lymphatic drainage massage for treatment, thanks to its use in the general course of therapy, the patient improves lymph outflow in the legs, swelling becomes less, fatigue and heaviness in the legs go away. The only negative is the massage action. It will last only 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 a vein in which a blood clot is found.
This drug acts in such a way that the upper layer of the affected vein is destroyed, then it sticks together. Then, after 1.5 years, this vein dissolves in the human body, other veins begin to perform its working functions.
The medicine is prescribed by a phlebologist, for each patient an individual treatment is used. The course of sclerotherapy includes 3-6 procedures, after a while 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, since if the procedure is not carried out correctly, the vein will restore its blood flow through the sclerosed vessel, and there will be no therapeutic effect.
In addition to the introduction of drugs during the application of this procedure, microfoam is introduced into the vein. For the accuracy of this procedure, an ultrasound scanner is required, thanks to which the doctor will see on the screen the movement of the needle and the process of distributing the drug over it.
In more complex cases, when massage, compression underwear, medications do not help and the disease goes into an acute stage, surgery is prescribed for such patients.
The consequences of varicose veins
The consequence of the disease does not bode well, it is a cosmetic problem and is associated with other health problems that arose due to varicose veins. Most affected are women 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 disease leads to more tangible health problems.
Most often, there is pain in the legs, which is accompanied by unpleasant itching. Aching pain arises from an insufficient amount of 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 an unpleasant sensation.
Of course, a cosmetic problem is also important for women, but the more unpleasant consequences are swollen ankles. The pain passes in the upper and lower legs. Even with a good rest, a person will feel constant pain.
Dermatitis - a consequence of varicose veins
The most serious consequence is dermatitis. The disease develops in places of expansion of veins. With such a disease, a person suffers from constant itching, wound formations, the occurrence of various rashes. The appearance of dermatitis can lead to thrombophlebitis. When a blood clot appears, you should immediately seek the help of a specialist. If this is not done, then the consequences for a person can be very serious. Therefore, it is impossible to tighten in any case.