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 may appear, leading to varicose veins.
At the first symptoms of varicose veins (swollen veins, venous mesh on the legs, severe swelling of the legs, pain in the legs and feet), you should consult a phlebologist. A thorough examination will be required to establish the diagnosis and degree of varicose veins. After receiving the necessary data, the doctor will tell you how to treat varicose veins on the legs, prescribe the necessary medications 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. Phlebologist is a narrow 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 advisable to contact a vein specialist - phlebologist
Methods of treating 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 for treating varicose veins must be agreed with a doctor. Among the ways to combat diseases of veins in the legs, the following effective methods can be distinguished:
Sclerotherapy
The essence of this technique is that a special substance (sclerosant) is injected into the diseased veins using a thin needle.
Sclerosant, entering the vein, leads to sticking of its walls and removing the affected vessel from the general network of blood channels on the legs.
Sclerotherapy helps to remove small varicose asterisks after 3-5 weeks, and after three months, large varicose nodes and bumps will disappear.
Surgical removal of veins (Phlebectomy)
This technique is used for severe neglect of varicose veins. Surgical operation is performed when varicose veins lead to the appearance of large nodes and seals in the vessels, provoking the appearance of huge blood clots. A significant disadvantage of the surgical intervention for varicose veins are scars and scars on the skin.
Laser therapy for varicose veins is used as a convenient and absolutely painless method of dealing with varicose veins. The laser acts on the affected vessel according to the same principle as the sclerotherapy procedure. The walls of blood vessels under the influence of laser beams are soldered, 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 adherents of natural medicine. This is not to say that the hirudotherapy technique is effective, it has a lot of disadvantages. To obtain a noticeable effect from hirudotherapy, you need to go through several courses, in each of which there are 8 sessions. Treatment of varicose veins with leeches can be effective only at the initial stage of vascular disease.
Prevention of varicose veins
Varicose veins begin to manifest in the form of severe or episodic pain in the legs, the appearance of a vascular mesh on the skin of the legs and protruding veins with a tinge of blue.
It is advisable to warn varicose veins in advance, than then look for various methods of its cure. Here are some precautions you can take to prevent the development of varicose veins.
- Avoid wearing tight and uncomfortable high-heeled shoes. From uncomfortable shoes in the vessels of the legs, 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 take time every day for walking, running, dancing, swimming. Varicose veins most often develops in sellers, hairdressers, stewardesses. Why is this trend observed? The legs of people of such professions during the day receive a huge static load as a result of prolonged standing. As a result, the development of varicose veins.
- Body weight must be constantly monitored, since it is the extra pounds that increase the load on the vessels of the legs and increase the blood pressure on the walls.
- It is advisable to regularly arrange walks with bare feet on various rough surfaces (pebbles, sand, dry grass). In this way, effective toning of the veins in the legs is achieved, and at the same time, the muscles of the legs relax and rest well.
- Do not often consume salty and spicy foods, alcoholic beverages. All spicy and salty foods contribute to the formation of blood clots and the development of varicose veins. You can thin 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, a number of 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 dealing with 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 wraps, contrast water treatments, swimming and brisk walking. With varicose veins, exposure to high temperatures on 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 cannot visit the bathhouse and sauna, go to the solarium, massage the affected areas of the legs with swollen veins. With varicose veins, power loads are contraindicated. Therefore, people suffering from varicose veins will not be able to get rid of cellulite through heavy exertion.
Varicose veins - when to see a doctor?
The first symptoms of early varicose veins should already be a signal to visit a medical specialist. The main signs of developing varicose veins are:
- Severe heaviness and fatigue in the legs, swelling of the legs.
- Night cramps in the calf muscles.
- Attacks of burning and pain in the legs.
- Vein distension
- The appearance of small spider veins or large swollen vessels on the skin surface.
Varicose veins can occur not only on the lower limbs. Also known are varicose veins of the small pelvis, varicose veins of the uterus, varicose veins of the esophagus or genitals. With the development of one of these types of varicose veins, the following symptoms appear:
- Severe pain in the lower abdomen
- Bloated 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
- Disruptions in the menstrual cycle, prolonged menstruation with smearing secretions.
The listed symptoms are not specific, they can signal 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
Diagnostic measures to determine the degree of varicose veins begin to be carried out by the doctor from the moment the patient applies. If the initial stage of varicose veins is diagnosed, then 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 its complication, a comprehensive examination is carried out using laboratory and hardware techniques. The patient must pass the necessary tests for conducting clinical and laboratory research, as well as undergo a number of procedures.
In particular, it is necessary to make a triplex ultrasound, ultrasound dopplerography of blood vessels, conduct a minimally invasive assessment of venous blood flow. For an accurate diagnosis, you will need to make 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 makes a comprehensive conclusion about the presence of varicose veins of one degree or another.
Traditional medicine for varicose veins
Varicose veins are a common disease that, in most cases, cannot be treated with conventional medicines.
Varicose veins often occur in pregnant women who should not take strong medications.
That is why the treatment of varicose veins at home, using proven traditional medicine, is increasingly practiced.
- With varicose veins, a decoction of hop cones helps, which you need to drink three times a day, one glass. Chopped hop cones (1 tablespoon) must be poured with boiling water and a little 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 per 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 swollen veins and bumps.
- For the treatment of varicose veins with folk remedies, you can prepare a special ointment from the collection of herbs. You need to take a teaspoon of dried herbs of chamomile, St. John's wort, chicory, coltsfoot and meadowsweet. The entire herbal collection 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 areas of the legs with swollen veins, wrapping the legs with plastic wrap.
Treatment with folk remedies does not always give a lasting effect for varicose veins, but effectively tones the veins and vessels of the legs. Alternative treatment of varicose veins can be used in the absence of opportunities for drug treatment.
It is possible to reduce the risk of developing varicose veins by observing the correct diet and engaging in regular physical activity. Varicose veins can be completely cured by surgical intervention, which is carried out after a full examination by a phlebologist.