Symptoms of varicose veins of the lower extremities

Varicose veins in the legs is one of the most common diseases that occurs in a large number of women of any age. Men also suffer from this, but much less often. With such symptoms, very rarely people turn to medical professionals immediately. Everyone is trying to self-medicate, considering all this to be temporary manifestations. Varicose veins of the foot are often confused simply with an overworked body that is tired of daily work and a heavy schedule.

The peculiarity of varicose veins in the legs is such that treatment helps especially well only in the early stages of the disease, but not in the last, when the manifestations are more and more every day. If everything is left to chance, then in the extreme stages a surgical operation is required. The disease gradually progresses. Especially if it goes along with venous insufficiency.

With varicose veins of the lower extremities, the symptoms disappear with pathological expansion and hemodynamic disturbances. Venous valves do not work well. Over time, all this worsens with thrombophlebitis, phlebothrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism.

Onset of the disease

The first symptoms of varicose veins on the legs are associated with improper action of the valves of the veins, leading to blood reflux. Endothelial cells receive a signal from the slowed down blood flow. Leukocytes are installed on them. Thus, the process of inflammation begins in the vascular walls, which pass along the bed of the veins. The inflammatory process catalyzes disorders of the venous walls.

All the pressure is stronger on the venous valve system. To begin with, the lesion is noticeable in the areas with the highest load - perforating vessels and large and small saphenous veins. After that, the channel begins to fill in excess of the norm. It is from this that the redistribution of venous blood in the walls proceeds. And below, more often than not, there are much more of them. All this volume smoothly reaches deep veins, where it stretches everything in its immediate environment. Dilation and venous insufficiency of the valvular sections occurs.

Causes

Phlebologists identify a number of reasons that cause pathologies in the work of the vein system. This can be due to a genetic predisposition and due to the totality of unpleasant effects on the human body. Hereditary characteristics are manifested not only in women, but also in men. The disease can pass inside for a long period, but does not manifest itself outside in any way. After that, due to some external catalyst, a failure in the venous valves leads to the first manifestations on the skin.

The following important reasons provoke ailment:

• age parameters;
• failure of hormones;
• diabetes;
• permanent constipation;
• periods after surgery or injury;
• dependence on alcohol and tobacco;
• hypercoagulability and excess weight;
• delivery period and pregnancy;
• underwear that squeezes individual parts of the body;
• long idle time and high loads at the workplace;
• congenital defects of the circulatory system;
• life in conditions unsuitable due to the climate.

Symptoms

Diseases of leg veins are not simple blue discoloration with long paths in the form of a tree. They are also often called vascular stars. This is far from the first stage, and even the name of such a phenomenon is - intradermal varicose veins. As we wrote earlier, this situation can occur due to a number of factors, including pregnant girls. The human body is gradually rebuilding due to the influence of hormones. It is not dangerous, except for discomfort due to external manifestations. Young ladies do not like to see that they have blue discoloration outward. Such manifestations of lower varicose veins can be removed with cosmetic devices, adjusting your diet, switching to recommended dietary products.

A bluish mesh most often indicates to the patient that he has a harmless type of varicose veins of the lower extremities.

Human health does not suffer from this in any way, but it is still unpleasant to live with such a problem for a long time. Experts advise you to contact specialized cosmetology clinics, where you will be prescribed a medication course with herbs, lotions, gels and ointments. This is a combination of traditional medicine and classical clinical research.

If any bumps or bumps are already protruding, then an urgent need to consult a doctor. There can be no self-medication here. If there is pain in the legs with varicose veins, the symptoms that you find it difficult to determine, then contact therapists. In general, it is very difficult to completely remove varicose veins of the lower extremities, the symptoms of the photo and the treatment testify to this. In advanced situations, you have to even turn to the surgical department for help, where you will undergo an operation. Beginning varicose veins in the legs are characterized by heaviness in the limbs, edema and some cramps. All these symptoms of varicose veins directly tell us that you have just the case that is treated only under the supervision of a doctor.

If you notice redness on the skin, feel discomfort when walking, see compacted vascular walls, feel an increase in temperature, then this is already a serious disease called thrombophlebitis.

There is already a significant risk of losing health. If you do not pay attention to all these signs of varicose enlargement for a long time, then even several deaths occur per year. Usually, with a disease with current symptoms, the patient is immediately admitted to the hospital for long-term treatment. Even if you have noticed only one symptom, then there is no need to wait for the weather by the sea. Urgently to the clinic, and there it will already be more visible.

Classification

In 2000, a classification was proposed with 4 degrees of varicose veins in the legs:

1. Dilated veins inside the skin of the segmental type. Venous discharges are not noticeable.
2. Dilated veins of a segmental nature with reflux.
3. Dilated veins with reflux over the entire area of the lower extremities.
4. Dilated veins with varicose reflux with penetration into deep veins.

Moreover, medical workers identify not only ascending pathological changes starting from the foot, but also descending - varicose veins start from the mouth of the saphenous vein.

When determining the type of disease, they also look at the level of venous insufficiency.

Zero - the disease is absent in humans, the first is heaviness in the legs, the second is the manifestation of edema, the third is persistent edema, eczema, increased pigmentation, lipodermatosclerosis, the fourth is the formation of trophic ulcers.

Diagnostics

At first, the method of examination by a phlebologist is simply external, that is, the doctor examines external changes in the legs. With a high degree of probability, an approximate diagnosis is determined already at this stage, but it never ends there. Then they carry out a number of research and diagnostic procedures of a general nature:

• blood test;
• x-ray;
• rheovasography and duplex scanning;
• Doppler ultrasound and plethysmography.

Treatment

Varicose veins of the lower extremities are easily treatable in the early stages. The whole procedure works to normalize blood circulation, blood outflow and prevent any complications. All this helps to improve the general condition of the body. Therapeutic techniques are divided into two types.

Conservative therapy is most often used when the first signs of varicose veins appear on the legs. The skin is affected, but these are not some pronounced segments. The person continues to live an ordinary life. The disease does not fundamentally affect anything, except for the psychological state.

The surgical method is recommended when the disease manifests itself in large areas with clear lines, small bumps and ulcers. The recovery method often begins with minimally invasive procedures, but full-fledged surgery sometimes comes to the rescue when the case is extremely neglected.

Conservative technique

A complex course is assigned to the patient:

1. Specialists are trying to get rid of all possible risks of disease progression. Varicose veins on the legs are examined by a phlebologist, who can put the patient on clinical examination.
2. They begin to fight adynamia. If there are no thrombosis, then you need to actively engage in sports, evenly loading your body, training your lower limbs vigorously. The intensity is already being discussed with the physiotherapist. Most often they are forced to swim, run, ride a bicycle. It is recommended to wear sports underwear with additional compression. Before exercising, you need to maintain your legs in an elevated state for several minutes. The sick are not advised to engage in contact sports: power martial arts, football, hockey. For improved fixation of the legs, elastic bandages are used.

3. Compression knitwear and elastic bandages are needed not only on sports fields. They are trying to treat the symptoms of varicose veins of the lower extremities. When used correctly, venous circulation should improve. This type of treatment is often prescribed for a limited time.
4. Taking medications. The course of taking medications is prescribed for all stages of development of varicose veins. Thoughtless use of pills for ailment can only lead to a worsening of the situation. The patient can get rid of any bright manifestations on the legs within a month, if he observes the doctor's instructions. All prescribed drugs belong to different groups of drugs that have an anti-inflammatory effect and are related to angioprotectors, phlebotonics, desogregants or anticoagulants.
5. Physiotherapy is always included in the complex of counteracting the symptoms of varicose veins of the legs. All of them affect, first of all, the restoration of the tone of the venous walls, lymph drainage and improvement of blood circulation. A number of drugs are prescribed, from magnetic and laser therapy to pneumocompression and hyperbaric oxygenation. Often these are oxygen and mineral baths. If there are no contraindications and side effects, then the patient is prescribed massage measures. Moreover, sometimes they can even be performed at home on their own. They are also treated with hirudotherapy and apitherapy.

Surgical technique

Diseases of the venous type sometimes have to be treated by surgeons, when all the symptoms of the disease accumulate and negatively affect each other, and the stage has long passed to the last fourth. They try to fight with a minimally invasive method. This is sclerotherapy with the introduction of certain substances that affect the walls of blood vessels. This is microsclerotherapy that acts directly on the spider veins. This is microthermocoagulation, working on a thin electrode, eliminating all bright external manifestations. These are laser endovasal coagulation and radiofrequency ablation of varicose veins - they all act on the affected areas of the veins, providing a thermal effect. All this is necessary in order not to prescribe drastic measures and conduct a real operation. There are already separate methods of a new type, which began to be applied only from the end of the 90s.

Transluminal phlebectomy: a thin probe is inserted into the lumen of the diseased vein. Thanks to this, the doctor exercises control over the entire operation. An anesthetic drug is administered. All affected areas are removed by aspiration.

Endoscopic dissection: The perforating veins are ligated using endoscopic devices.

There are also separate operations to preserve veins. They are aimed at restoring the functioning of the venous valves. There is a fixation of specialized structures that impede the progress of a pathological nature. Sometimes hemodynamic operations are used to relieve the affected veins by directing venous flows in other directions. Relapses in these situations are common. Do not visit baths, saunas in the postoperative period, walk less often and do not lift heavy things.

Phlebologist's opinion:

The use of compression hosiery with elastic bandages is necessary not only for sports. With the help of them, the initial signs of varicose veins are treated. If this is done correctly, there is an improvement in venous blood circulation. Often, these treatments are prescribed for an unlimited period. Medications can be prescribed during any stage when varicose veins develop. If pills are madly used to cure a disease, the situation can only get worse. After a month, patients can remove various manifestations on the surface of the legs, when he begins to follow the doctor's recommendations. Medicines achieve an effect in which inflammation disappears. These are angioprotectors, phlebotonics, disinfectants or anticoagulants.

Reviews

• The first response, a woman, 39 years old: "The signs of varicose veins of the legs were given to mean about a year ago. This is my hereditary disease in my mother's line. Often, at the same time, atherosclerosis of the vessels occurs. In this case, in my case, folk methods did not help relieve pain, althoughand I had an initial internal varicose veins. I started to engage in prophylaxis too late. The disease reached the small pelvis. I turned to a specialist who examined all the affected areas. He would prescribe a specialized course of treatment that saved me from all unpleasant external manifestations in about a month. we can safely say that all women should go to the doctor right away. Don't use all these grandmother's methods. Only phlebologists will help you choose medicines. They know everything about varicose problems. "
• The second opinion, a woman, 52 years old: "Despite the fact that she constantly monitored her health, varicose veins nevertheless appeared. I always turn to the attending physicians simply for the initial examination and diagnosis. The whole course took 3-4 weeks. Then I was already engaged in purely preventive and restorative procedures. Now a little sports, proper nutrition, yes, in general, that's all. The disease has receded and, I hope, will never return. "