What Are Varicose Veins?

Nov 30, 0012 by admin

Veins and valves

First of all, veins transport blood without oxygen to the lungs and heart. Blood vessels can change their shape and thicken, especially the ones in the legs, leading to what is known as varicose veins, the abnormal parts being varicosities. This phenomenon is quite common among people from the US, especially as it runs in the family.

There are two types of veins: superficial, which are positioned right beneath the skin, and deep ones, surrounded by muscles, connected between each other by communicator veins. Blood flows from the first ones to the second and then towards the heart, through a complex system of veins, directed by valves. These valves are responsible for keeping the blood flowing in the right direction. Damaged valves, which are the main cause for varicosities, might occur if there are antecedents in the family, or if you have had abnormal veins since you were born, in which case the blood vessel walls are weakened and the valves don’t function properly. The way this problem occurs is that when you stand up, your blood flows the wrong way through the vessels, due to muscle contraction around malfunctioning valves, which also increases the blood flow. There are other causes that can do more harm to varicose veins, such as pregnancy, in which the extra weight results in more pressure on the legs, as well as higher levels of progesterone and estrogen, both which have an effect on blood vessels. Additionally, if your daily routine involves a lot of standing on your feet, you might develop varicosities. Other causes might be obesity and conditions that involve muscle straining, which may also lead to hemorrhoids. What is more, aging increases the chances of developing varicose veins.

The symptoms are usually the same: pain in the legs, especially after standing up all day, and swollen, protuberant veins that feel strange at touch. However, some may not experience any symptoms, the only bother being the fact that they are unaesthetic. But, nonetheless, varicose veins might lead to an easy form of thrombophlebitis, which means clots along the veins, which is why it is better to ask your physician if you experience pain in your legs and swollen veins. Other symptoms caused by clots are tenderness and irritation of the skin. These blood clots should be monitored, as they might move towards your lungs or heart, causing more serious problems.

But there actually isn’t much to worry about, as usually varicose veins do not represent a big problem. Nonetheless, always be careful, as a protuberant vein might be easily damaged by an injury or even by shaving, in which case you should keep your leg up and apply pressure around the area, in order to stop the superficial veins’ bleeding.

Diagnosing varicose veins is usually a common procedure, as it is quite simple to distinguish them. If you talk to your doctor about it, he or she will probably do a complete examination, in order to identify whether there are any risk agents. Moreover, by the use of a cuff, in order to check your blood pressure, the specialist will be able to see where the blood flows in the opposite direction. The same results can be found by the use of ultrasounds, which clearly identify the problematic areas and see whether there are any clots.

You can easily do some things at home, in order to treat your vein problems. The most important thing is resting your legs, by keeping them up for about thirty minutes. Also, a healthy diet and exercising always help, not to mention not drinking any more alcoholic beverages, as alcohol is known to expand the veins. Try not to wear pants or belts that are too tight and take long walks.