Varicose veins in the legs are a chronic disease. The causes of varicose veins can be hereditary factors, a passive lifestyle, high loads on the legs and blood vessels. Varicose veins are common during pregnancy.
In pregnant women, the load on the legs increases, edema often occurs, and against this background blood clots and other problems with blood vessels leading to varicose veins may appear.
At the first symptoms of varicose veins (swollen veins, venous mesh in the legs, severe swelling of the legs, pain in the legs and feet), you should consult a phlebologist. A complete examination will be required to establish the diagnosis and grade of varicose veins. After receiving the necessary data, the doctor will tell you how to treat varicose veins on the legs, prescribe the necessary drugs and procedures.
What specialist treats varicose veins?
When varicose veins occur, many patients do not know which doctor treats varicose veins. All vascular diseases are treated by a phlebologist. The phlebologist is a limited medical specialization that involves the diagnosis and treatment of pathological diseases of the veins.
Naturally, a phlebologist should not be visited when varicose veins are in an advanced stage. It is advisable to have a personal phlebologist who can see the development of venous diseases at an early stage and prescribe treatment.
If you have varicose veins, it is recommended that you contact a vein specialist - phlebologist
Methods to treat varicose veins
Varicose veins are one of the unpleasant and dangerous diseases, for the effective treatment of which various means are used. How to treat varicose veins? Varicose veins can be treated by choosing one of several methods.
The choice of treatment for varicose veins depends on the degree of complexity of the disease and the individual characteristics of the human body. The procedure to treat varicose veins must be agreed with your doctor. Among the methods of combating diseases of the veins of the legs, the following effective methods can be distinguished:
Sclerotherapy
The essence of this technique is that a special substance (sclerosing agent) is injected into the diseased veins with a fine needle.
The sclerosant, entering the vein, causes its walls to stick together and removes the affected vessel from the general network of blood channels in the legs.
Sclerotherapy helps to remove small varicose asterisks after 3-5 weeks, and after three months, large varicose nodules and bumps will disappear.
Surgical vein removal (phlebectomy)
This technique is used for severe neglect of varicose veins. Surgical operation is performed when varicose veins lead to the appearance of large nodules and seals in the vessels, causing the appearance of huge blood clots. A significant disadvantage of surgical intervention for varicose veins is scars and scars on the skin.
Laser therapy for varicose veins is used as a convenient and absolutely painless method of treating varicose veins. The laser acts on the affected vessel according to the same principle as the sclerotherapy procedure. The walls of the blood vessels under the influence of laser beams are welded, but it will take a long time to effectively treat varicose veins. A positive aspect of laser therapy for varicose veins is the absence of scars on the skin.
Hirudotherapy or treatment of varicose veins with leeches. Leeches for varicose veins are often used by followers of natural medicine. This does not mean that the hirudotherapy technique is effective, it has many disadvantages. To get a noticeable effect from hirudotherapy, you need to go through several courses, each of which - 8 sessions. Treatment of varicose veins with leeches can be effective only in the initial stage of vascular disease.
Prevention of varicose veins
Varicose veins begin to manifest as severe or episodic pain in the legs, the appearance of a vascular mesh on the skin of the legs, and bulging veins with a blue tint.
It is advisable to warn in advance about varicose veins, rather than looking for various methods of cure. Here are some precautions that can help prevent the development of varicose veins.
- Don't wear tight or uncomfortable high heels. From uncomfortable shoes on the vessels of the legs, the pressure increases, which leads to the formation of blood clots and the development of varicose veins.
- Regular exercise can help you avoid varicose veins. It is advisable to spend time walking, running, dancing, swimming every day. Varicose veins develop most often in salespeople, hairdressers, flight attendants. Why is this trend observed? The legs of people of such professions during the day receive a large static load as a result of standing for a long time. As a result, the development of varicose veins.
- Body weight must be constantly monitored, since it is the extra kilos that increase the load on the vessels of the legs and increase the blood pressure on the walls.
- It is advisable to regularly organize barefoot walks on various rough surfaces (pebbles, sand, dry grass). In this way, effective toning of the leg veins is achieved and, at the same time, the leg muscles are relaxed and well rested.
- Do not often consume salty and spicy foods, alcoholic beverages. All spicy and salty foods contribute to the formation of blood clots in the vessels and the development of varicose veins. You can dilute thick blood with plain water or unsalted tomato juice.
- Varicose veins often provoke the development of such an unpleasant phenomenon as cellulite. How to treat cellulite with varicose veins? For a patient with varicose veins, various procedures are contraindicated to effectively combat cellulite. Therefore, the doctor must select an individual treatment plan for varicose veins, which will indicate the method of treating the resulting cellulite. With varicose veins, it is allowed to use a limited number of procedures aimed at eliminating the signs of cellulite. These treatments include blue clay foot bandages, contrast water treatments, swimming, and brisk walking. With varicose veins, exposure to high temperatures in the affected areas of the legs is extremely undesirable. For this reason, it is necessary to abandon thermal wraps in the fight against cellulite. With varicose veins, you can not visit the bathhouse and sauna, go to the solarium, massage the affected areas of the legs with swollen veins. With varicose veins, energy loads are contraindicated. Therefore, people suffering from varicose veins will not be able to get rid of cellulite through intense effort.
Varicose veins: when to see a doctor?
The first symptoms of early varicose veins should already be a signal to visit a specialist doctor. The main signs of the development of varicose veins are:
- Intense heaviness and fatigue in the legs, swelling of the legs.
- Night cramps in the calf muscles.
- Burning attacks and pain in the legs.
- Dilated veins
- The appearance of small spider veins or large inflamed vessels on the surface of the skin.
Varicose veins can appear not only on the lower extremities. Varicose veins of the small pelvis, varicose veins of the uterus, varicose veins of the esophagus or genitalia are also known. With the development of one of these types of varicose veins, the following symptoms appear:
- Severe pain in the lower abdomen
- Swollen groin veins
- Unpleasant discharge from the genitals
- Pain during sexual intercourse
- Pain in the sacrum and lower back that increases with the onset of menstruation
- Interruptions in the menstrual cycle, prolonged menstruation with spotty discharge.
The listed symptoms are not specific, they may indicate other diseases. In any case, if you suspect varicose veins, it is better to visit a competent specialist who will make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the necessary procedures.
Diagnosis of varicose veins
The diagnostic measures to determine the degree of varicose veins begin to be performed by the doctor from the moment the patient applies. If the initial stage of varicose veins is diagnosed, the treatment will be conservative. That is why a visit to the doctor should not be postponed if you suspect varicose veins.
For an accurate diagnosis of varicose veins and the degree of their complication, a comprehensive examination is carried out using laboratory techniques and hardware. The patient must pass the necessary tests to conduct clinical and laboratory investigations, as well as undergo a series of procedures.
In particular, it is necessary to perform triplex ultrasound, ultrasound dopplerography of blood vessels, perform minimally invasive assessment of venous blood flow. For an accurate diagnosis, you will need to do an X-ray of the veins (a special procedure in which a radiopaque contrast agent is injected into the diseased vein) to examine the pressure in the veins over time.
Based on the results obtained, the phlebologist reaches an exhaustive conclusion about the presence of varicose veins of various degrees.
Traditional medicine for varicose veins
Varicose veins are a common disease that, in most cases, cannot be treated with conventional medications.
Varicose veins often occur in pregnant women who should not take strong medications.
That is why the treatment of varicose veins is increasingly practiced at home, using proven traditional medicine.
- With varicose veins, a decoction of hop cones helps, which you should drink three times a day, a glass. Chopped hop cones (1 tablespoon) need to be poured with boiling water and slightly insisted.
- Apple cider vinegar for the treatment of varicose veins is used both externally and internally. Drink apple cider vinegar diluted with water, one tablespoon a day. The areas of the legs affected by varicose veins are rubbed with pure apple cider vinegar, if there are no lesions and ulcers on the skin.
- Before going to bed, grated raw potatoes or finely chopped green tomatoes can be applied to the swollen veins and bumps.
- For the treatment of varicose veins with folk remedies, you can prepare a special ointment from the collection of herbs. It is necessary to take a teaspoon of dried herbs of chamomile, St. John's wort, chicory, houndstooth and meadowsweet. The entire collection of herbs is poured with water in an amount of 1 ml and set on fire until boiling. After boiling, you need to add badger fat to the composition. For a week, the ointment should be applied to the areas of the legs with swollen veins, wrapping the legs with plastic wrap.
Treatment with home remedies does not always give a long-lasting effect for varicose veins, but it effectively tones the veins and vessels of the legs. An alternative treatment for varicose veins can be used in the absence of opportunities for drug treatment.
You can reduce your risk of developing varicose veins by following a proper diet and regular physical activity. Varicose veins can be completely cured by surgical intervention, which is carried out after a thorough examination by a phlebologist.