Varicose veins are characterized by an uneven expansion of the lumen of the veins of the legs, the appearance of nodes on them and an increase in their length.The disease develops gradually, characterized by a chronic course.
Women suffer from varicose veins three times more often than men.And among representatives of the stronger sex, faces are prone to this ailment who love sports with the maximum distribution of legs load: football, tennis, basketball.
Why is the expansion of the veins
There are three types of veins in the fabrics of the legs: superficial, deep, connecting superficial and deep veins.Each vein is a hollow tube along which the blood flows from the tissues of the legs to the heart.There are no muscle cells in the walls of the veins, so the vein cannot contract to push the blood up.This task is performed by skeletal muscles of the legs.And the valves are located inside the veins - they close their sash at the time of reduction of skeletal muscles, avoiding the reverse flow of blood.Each muscle contraction "pushes" blood above.
When the valves flashes are closed loosely, part of the blood flows back, stagnates in Vienna, presses on its walls, gradually stretching them.The lumen of the veins expands, its wall stretches.This is the beginning of varicose veins.
Factors provoking the disease:
- Heredity - with an innate lack of collagen fibers, the wall of the vein is less elastic and prone to stretching.
- Stagnation of blood in the veins of the legs with overweight and obesity, wearing shoes with a heel of more than 3-4 centimeters, with prolonged standing in one place of people of certain professions-hairdressers and sellers, cooks, lecturers, or with a long sitting with office employees.
- Changes in the hormonal background: the increased content of progesterone in the blood of a pregnant woman makes the walls soft and stretched, so the danger of varicose veins during the period of bearing the child increases sharply.
The first signs of varicose veins - how not to miss
The alarm about the beginning varicose veins is considered the moment when vascular stars or vascular nets - reticular varicose veins appear on the skin of the legs.This is not a cosmetic defect, but the onset of the disease!
At the same time or after some time, the second group of signs joins - a feeling of heaviness in the legs, bursting in the legs after prolonged standing or sitting on a chair.When a person begins to walk, the feeling of severity decreases: the skeletal muscles pour over the stagnant blood higher and the stretching of the walls of the veins decreases.
Further development of the disease is manifested by edema on the legs - these are traces of socks, a thickening of one leg relative to the second with visual examination.
Later, pain in the calf muscles of the legs, fatigue when walking, dry skin and its pigmentation, protruding varicose nodes and the formation of trophic ulcers are noted.
When to contact a vascular surgeon?
When the first vascular nets and stars appear, you should consult a specialist, and if necessary, perform an ultrasound study of the veins of the lower extremities and conduct varicose veins on the veins.The sooner the diagnosis of varicose veins is diagnosed, the more chances to stop it at the initial stage.