Tips on preventing varicose veins
Categories: Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness
While both men and women can get varicose veins, it seems that we ladies tend to worry about them more than guys. The bulging masses occur when veins weaken and become loose, allowing blood to pool. Not only are varicose veins unsightly, they can also be painful and itchy. Not exactly fun.
Genetics, obesity and pregnancy all play a part in causing veins to weaken but there are still ways to try and prevent varicose veins from forming. Blood flows to your heart faster when muscles contract and put pressure on your veins, forcing blood though more quickly. If blood isn't moving, it starts to pool resulting in varicose veins. Exercise helps because it keeps blood flowing but for those who spend a lot of their day being inactive (if you've got a desk job, for example), you can still contract leg muscles by standing up and down on your tip toes or by flexing your feet.
If you're obese, losing weight will help, and wearing support hose also works as the garment puts gentle pressure on your legs, helping constrict veins and force blood back to your heart. Want more ideas? Check out this article for additional ways to keep varicose veins at bay.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Venous Dr 8-20-2007 @ 9:42AM
Hi Lauren,
Although patients should change their lifestyles and habits to try to prevent the onset of chronic venous diseases, it might be genetically inevitable.
Its ok though. With new non-surgical treatment options like endovenous laser treatment and sclerotherapy, the treatment process is not as complicated as it once was. I would suggest that your readers look into these procedures further if they are experiencing common symptoms. You can find more information at:
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/patients_consumers/procedures/Sclerotherapy.cfm
http://www.veinclinics.com/compassstages/sclerotherapy.html
http://www.bumc.bu.edu/Dept/Content.aspx?DepartmentID=364&PageID=6127
Hope that helps.
DC
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Linda 9-03-2007 @ 12:47PM
Hello Lauren, I suffer from the spider veins for some time now. I have never done anything specific to try and get rid of them and I guess I’ve never worried about keeping my legs covered. After doing some online research I learned there are laser treatments that help one get rid of spider veins and also came across some tips to minimize them and also that some vitamins like C vitamin may help the blood circulate better in those areas. Here are some great online resources I found related to the venous disease: http://cvdforum.veinclinics.com and http://www.veinclinics.com. I hope it helps!
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