Prevention of varicose veins in the legs

When the first signs of varicose veins appear, prevention of varicose veins in the legs should begin. If the therapy is neglected, the disease will continue to develop and lead to serious complications. Lifestyle changes are very important to prevent the development of varicose veins. The patient should balance his daily routine, reconsider his wardrobe and nutrition system. We will give more information about all the methods of preventing varicose veins.

Causes of varicose veins

Prevention of varicose veins affects all people, because everyone is exposed to the negative factors that lead to the development of the disease. Among them, physical inactivity is in the first place. Most modern people spend 80% of their time in the office. Being in a sitting position has a negative effect on the functioning of the muscular apparatus. Therefore, people who are thinking about how to protect their feet from varicose veins are obliged to include daily gymnastics in their schedules. The causes of the disease include:

• abuse of fatty and sweet foods;
• significant excess body weight;
• serious foot injuries;
• bad habits;
• to take hormonal drugs;
• excessive loads on the legs.

Before you start preventing varicose veins in your legs, you need to determine the degree of risk of developing the disease. There is a certain group of people who are most exposed to this disease. To prevent the appearance of varicose veins should consult a phlebologist 1-2 times a year.

The most vulnerable groups of people

Prevention of varicose veins begins with determining whether a person is prone to the development of this pathology. Only a phlebologist can give an accurate answer to this question after assessing the condition of the vessels, but you can try to classify yourself. The following people are at high risk of developing varicose veins:

• with a hereditary predisposition to vascular disease;
• women giving birth and pregnant;
• persons engaged in heavy physical labor and standing on their feet almost all day;
• women who always wear high heels;
• those who like spicy and excessively salty foods;
• alcohol abusers;
• people who like to take a very hot bath go to the sauna;
• women with dyshormonal diseases;
• people suffering from increased foot swelling.

How to prevent varicose veins

How to avoid varicose veins 100%, doctors will not be able to say, tk. there is no such way. You can follow all the recommendations of doctors, but you still suffer from this disease. On the other hand, the implementation of preventive measures helps to normalize body functions and blood flow, which significantly slows the progression of the disease. The most effective ways to prevent the development of varicose veins are:

• Physical education;
• wear comfortable shoes;
• balanced diet;
• normalization of body weight;
• gymnastics;
• wear compression stockings;
• foot massage;
• a choice of work with more normal working conditions.

Of course, not all recommendations can be implemented immediately in practice, but everyone can eat less fatty foods and exercise for 20 minutes a day. Do not be too fanatical in the prevention of the disease, because you can seriously harm yourself to improve the condition of the arteries.

Moderate activity

Working with free weights and too much physical activity will not help in the fight against varicose veins. On the contrary, they destroy the valves and lengthen the vessel walls. Prevention of varicose veins involves the implementation of special exercises that normalize blood flow. Classes should be conducted at a strong pace and should not make you painful. Sports methods to prevent varicose veins include:

• water aerobics and swimming;
• racing;
• easy running;
• stretching

Quality shoes

To prevent varicose veins, many doctors recommend wearing orthopedic padding. They help to distribute the load evenly while walking. An important aspect is the shoes themselves. At home, you can wear sneakers with footrests to prevent varicose veins in the legs. The type of filling and the height of the climb should be chosen by the doctor. Purchased shoes must meet the following characteristics:

1. There is no flat heel and heel that is more than 6 cm high.
2. Sit well on your feet. Loose shoes on your feet increase the likelihood of damaging your ankles, and pressing down can worsen blood circulation.
3. The heel / heel should be stable. Even summer shoes should have a non-slip coating.

Suitable work

When it comes to preventing varicose veins in the legs, doctors recommend normalizing work and rest. For many patients, this is due to a change of job or specialty. Not everyone agrees to take such a radical step, but if you are currently employed, then try to consider the following tips when choosing a new job:

1. Work should not be associated with heavy physical labor.
2. You can not stay in one position for 7-8 hours. Look for companies that allow employees to get up every 2-3 hours and do light warm-up exercises.

In general, you can adjust any work by doing one warm-up every hour. If you do not want to change your field of activity or specialty, then you can just do physical training at work. The main thing is not to allow the growth of blood in the lower part of the legs caused by immobility of the lower leg.

Proper nutrition

If you are thinking about how to protect yourself from varicose veins in your legs, then pay attention to your diet. People who abuse fatty, salty and very sweet foods are more likely to suffer from this disease because they are more likely to be high in cholesterol and overweight. To normalize the work of the intestine, you need to eat a lot of fibrous vegetables. If you have never eaten raw carrots or cabbage before, then you should not consume it by the kilogram. It is enough to eat 300 grams of such vegetables a day.

People prone to varicose veins should be careful to maintain water balance. At least 1. 5 liters of clean water should be consumed per day. Juices, soups, teas are not included in this norm. They are absorbed by the body as food, so they are rapidly excreted by the kidneys and intestines. It is undesirable to use still water. If you are prone to varicose veins, carbonated and sugary drinks should be excluded. The same rule applies to drinks with high levels of caffeine.

Weight normalization

Maintaining a normal body mass index is important to prevent varicose veins. Simple physics works here. The heavier a person weighs, the stronger the pressure on the arteries. Of course, you need to compare your body weight with muscle size, height and your own body structure. At the same height, the difference in weight of mesomorphic and ectomorph can reach 15 kg.

If you decide that the amount of fat in your body is higher than muscle, reduce the calories in your daily diet. This approach will allow you to lose weight without experiencing strong cravings for food. If you change your diet drastically, it will lead to breakdowns and re-gaining weight. You need to include more fiber in your daily diet to reduce calories. They will not only help to lose weight, but also help to normalize digestion.

Give up bad habits

Prevention of varicose veins in the legs affects all areas of human life. Bad habits are also on this list. Smoking, alcohol and the tendency to overeat have a detrimental effect on blood vessels. This includes constant stress. Although overeating is relatively easy to deal with, severe alcohol and smoking addiction requires medical attention. A hobby or group therapy session can help reduce stress.

Relaxation gymnastics

To prevent varicose veins in the legs, it is important to perform exercises that help relieve excessive tension from the muscles of the lower extremities. The maximum duration of such exercises is 5-10 minutes. Doctors recommend doing this at least once a day, but twice a day. The following physical activities are considered beneficial:

• Sports bike. Lying on a solid surface, lift your legs and then start doing exercises similar to cycling. If you can't immediately make contact with your feet one by one, pull them one by one.

• Leg flexion / extension. Training is performed in a sitting position. You need to move 20 with each foot.

• Rolls from heel to toeIf a person is in a sitting position for a long time, they help to shed blood.

• Get up on your toes. First, the movements are performed simultaneously with both feet, and then in turns. You should stretch for 10-15 seconds at the highest point and then descend to the starting position.

Foot massage

If you are not sure how to prevent varicose veins in your legs, give a gentle massage. The self-reflex effect on the skin and blood vessels has a tonic effect on the whole body. Due to short manipulations, blood and lymph flow increases, epithelial nutrition is normalized. Foot massage can be performed independently or entrusted to a specialist. If you are prone to varicose veins, you should avoid pushing and pinching during the procedure. Self-massage is performed as follows:

1. The patient should sit on the floor or bed / sofa, knees slightly bent.
2. Friction movements should be performed from the toes to the lower foot.
3. The foot should be wrapped around the toes so that the big toe is behind the foot and the rest is inside.
4. The segment wrapped around your hands should be lightly compressed, moving slowly towards the top of the foot.
5. You need to wrap the side surface of the heel with your fingers on both sides and then squeeze for a few seconds. Next, you need to rise from the Achilles tendon to the knee.
6. The procedure ends with stroking the feet.

Compression garment

The means to prevent varicose veins are different. Compression therapy is one of them. If you want, you can participate in special physiotherapy procedures when the effect of pressure is using special devices, but it is easier to buy medical socks and tights.

Compression knitwear should be chosen individually. In the absence of a tendency, it is sufficient to wear underwear with the initial degree of compression. If there are signs of varicose veins, then the doctor should deal with the choice of knitwear. Recommendations for choosing medical linen are:

1. It should be comfortable. If you feel uncomfortable in the first adaptation, this underwear is not suitable for you.
2. The compression class should be in accordance with the doctor's recommendations. If you are told to wear first-class compression stockings, then you cannot get zero-grade knee height.
3. Products must be of high quality. It is better to buy compression stockings in specialized stores, not in the market or any sale, because they will stretch over time and are more likely to encounter a fake that stops the therapeutic effect on the feet.

Additional recommendations

Measures to prevent varicose veins include the use of special external cosmetic products (gels, creams, etc. ). They cool the surface of the legs, which helps the blood vessels to constrict naturally. People prone to varicose veins of the legs should avoid overloading the muscles of the lower extremities. Hygiene is important to prevent the onset of the disease. It is recommended not only to thoroughly clean the skin of the feet, but also to take a contrast shower. It also has a local irritating effect on blood vessels, which improves skin tone.

How to stop varicose veins

Prevention and treatment of varicose veins are closely linked. The spread of the disease can be stopped at an early stage with the help of drugs and alternative therapies, but with a rapidly developing disease, only surgery can help. For a patient with varicose veins, a phlebologist should develop a treatment plan. It is impossible to choose medicine independently and engage in any oriental practice. Any rash action can worsen the condition of the blood vessels.

Drug therapy

Medications are able to stop the development of varicose veins at an early stage. As a rule, the disease begins to form because there are not enough nutrients to keep the walls of the arteries elastic. In this case, an increase in blood accumulation in the extremities is often observed. Venotonics / phlebotonics - drugs that improve the flow of fluid from the feet. They also help restore the walls of blood vessels. They are:

• natural;
• combined;
• synthetic;
• based on rutoside.

Patients with high blood viscosity are prescribed drugs with heparin. They help improve blood flow, but are contraindicated in people prone to bleeding.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs help reduce pain in the second stage of varicose veins. They also help relieve the itching and burning sensation that often accompanies this disease. External means help to heal the skin. The duration of use of the drug should be determined by your doctor, but often the standard course of treatment is 6-8 months, so you should not expect that all symptoms of the disease will disappear within 2 weeks after taking the drug.

Traditional therapy

In the early stages, the disease is not considered life-threatening, but it should not be allowed to slip. Sclerotherapy is a traditional minimally invasive method that prevents further development of varicose veins. Can be used to extract stars and small ships. Traditional therapy includes:

• exosclerotherapy;
• microsclerotherapy;
• thermocoagulation;
• electromagnetotherapy;
• darsonvalization;
• electrical stimulation;
• lymphatic drainage by hand;
• use of elastic compression of the legs;
• hydrotherapy;
• balneotherapy;
• pressotherapy.

All these methods help to prevent further development of the disease. They activate the natural process of vascular regeneration.

Non-traditional methods

With the help of mud treatment you can improve the condition of the feet. The patient should remember that the bandages should only be cold. Heating the veins with varicose veins is very harmful to the body. Ayurveda helps to get rid of chronic stress that causes blood vessels to stretch. This is one of the types of alternative medicine based on the Hindu philosophical system. Various herbs are used there as medicine. Non-traditional methods of treating varicose veins include:

• collar;
• homeopathy;
• naturopathy;
• Tibetan gymnastics.

Surgery

The most effective way to normalize blood flow through varicose veins of the lower extremities is a special operation. Perfect methods of surgical treatment of the disease are characterized by minimal invasiveness and rapid return of the patient to normal life activities. They allow you to completely get rid of the affected vessels, which slows the progression of the disease. Modern methods of surgical treatment of varicose veins include:

• short peeling;
• video endoscopic surgery;
• microflebectomy;
• laser coagulation;
• venectomy;
• safenectomy.

These methods are most commonly used to treat varicose veins. The method of surgery to remove the vessel is chosen by the doctor based on the size and general condition of the vessel. Sometimes it is necessary to cut only part of the vessel, and sometimes it is necessary to remove it completely and create an alternative channel for blood flow.

Folk method

Folk remedies that improve the condition of the arteries are divided into external and internal. If you are not sure that the cause of the development of varicose veins is a large number of platelets, the use of various tinctures should be postponed, because they contain herbal decoctions that help to dilute the blood. Effective external remedies for varicose veins:

• Needle salt baths. 300 grams of dry matter is added to boiling water and then immersed in it. If candle salt is not sold in your area, you can replace it with baking soda. It is recommended to take such baths 2-3 times a week.
• Apple cider vinegar compresses. The product is diluted 1: 1 with water and then applied to the skin. The top is wrapped with a foot bandage, then everything is fixed with a plastic bandage. You can just take apple cider vinegar 2-3 times a day. Irritating to blood vessels.

• Rub with horse chestnut. Ready-made tincture based on this plant can be purchased at a pharmacy or prepare yourself. In the latter case, you will need kernels, which are the skin of the plant. 400 grams of dry product is poured with 1. 5 liters of vodka and then brewed for a week in a dark place. Once the tincture is ready, they begin to remove the damaged parts of the legs from the varicose veins.

Prevention forecast

In women with a low risk of developing the disease, varicose veins in the legs develop in only 5% of cases. The disease is mild, so it is treated quickly. When moderately susceptible, the disease occurs in 30% of patients. More often it is a mild or moderate form of the disease. With an open tendency to varicose veins, the disease quickly progresses to a moderate form. Without prevention, the disease progresses rapidly, which greatly complicates subsequent treatment.

Clinical examination of the population

All citizens can get a free medical examination. In general, not all medical examinations are important, only a visit to the surgeon and the results of a general blood test. The surgeon may first see changes in the veins and then refer you to a phlebologist. Also, if platelets predominate in the printing of a general blood test, you should be careful, you should visit a phlebologist. This may indicate vascular thrombosis.

How to prevent varicose veins during pregnancy

During the transportation of the baby, the load on the woman's internal organs increases significantly. During pregnancy, the risk of developing varicose veins of the legs, small pelvis and external genitalia increases. The danger increases especially in the second and third trimesters, when the fetus begins to grow actively. A phlebologist can explain in detail how to prevent varicose veins in the legs in pregnant women. All preventive measures should be started without consulting him. Doctors recommend a woman in one situation:

• wear comfortable shoes with low heels (completely flat heels are also harmful);
• try not to drink too much fluid;
• go to water aerobics for pregnant women;
• I place my feet more often during the day;
• Wear compression and supportive knitwear.

Why it is important to prevent the disease

It is easier to think about how to prevent varicose veins in the legs than to treat an already formed disease. Many people suffering from this disease have a genetic predisposition to its development. The main purpose of preventive measures is to maintain the normal condition of the ship. This can be done in different ways. All preventive measures can be divided into 2 types:

• aimed at people with a hereditary predisposition to the disease or facing unfavorable working conditions;
• aimed at patients suffering from any stage of varicose veins.

About 80% of phlebologists believe that preventing a disease is easier than treating it, so all honest citizens should take care of their feet for at least 10-20 minutes a day.