Varicose veins

Varicose veins are gnarled, enlarged veins that most commonly affect legs and feet. The reason for this is gravity. Walking upright increases pressure in the veins in the lower part of the body, which can cause varicose veins. In most cases they are harmless, and simply a cosmetic concern. However, for others it can be very painful and cause severe discomfort. In some, rare cases, it can lead to more serious problems, such as severe disorders of the circulatory system.

There are two basic variations of varicose veins: the gnarled varicose veins and spider veins. They are very common, in fact, they affect up to 15 percent of men and 25 percent of women in the US.

There are a few different ways to treat varicose veins, you can do self help treatments, or you can have a doctor remove the veins. However, before we take a closer look at the treatment of varicose veins, let's take a look at the causes of them, as often the root cause can help you figure out the best treatment option.

Causes of varicose veins:

Ok, to understand how you get varicose veins you have to have an understanding of you're your veins and arteries do as a part of the circulatory system. As a general overview, arteries carry blood from your heart to the rest of your tissues. Then, your veins return blood from the rest of your body to your heart. The blood is the reoxygenated, and recirculated throughout the body. Arteries take blood away, veins bring it back. However, in order for the veins in your legs to return the blood to your heart, they have to work against gravity. This means that their job is fairly difficult. The muscles contractions in your lower legs are much like a pump, in that they help to return the blood to the heart. If you veins are toned and elastic, they are really good at getting the blood back to the heart. Your veins will have little valves that open up as the blood flows toward the heart, and close to stop the blood from flowing backward. However, as you get older your veins may start to lose elasticity, which can cause them to stretch. This in turn can mean that the valves in your veins weaken, and allow blood that should be heading back toward the heart to flow backward. This leads to blood pooling, veins enlarging further, and that phenomenon we call varicose veins. They stick out, and are blue because they are full of deoxygenated blood that should be returned to the heart to be recirculated, but isn't getting there.

Varicose veins do not only happen to older people, in fact, many pregnant women get varicose veins because they have more volume of blood in their body, and decreased flow from the legs to the pelvic area. It is necessary to support a fetus, but can mean enlarged veins as a result. This is most common in the later months of pregnancy because the uterus is putting great pressure on the blood vessels.

Hemorrhoids are varicose veins around the anus.

So, as you can see, the cause is blood pooling, and it can happen to anyone, though it most common as you age, and as a woman your likelihood is higher, especially if you have pregnancies.

So, if varicose veins can happen to anyone, what can you do to prevent them? Or are they unpreventable?

The truth is that not all varicose and spider veins can be prevented. But some things can reduce your chances of getting new varicose and spider veins, and some things you can do to help yourself to not get them. There are also a few things you can do to ease discomfort so that they are not as uncomfortable.

• Wear Sunscreen. This is going to not only protect your skin from the sun, but will also help to limit spider veins on the face.
• Exercise regularly. Getting regular exercise will help to improve your leg strength, circulation, and vein strength. The most effective exercises to help reduce, prevent, and ease pain on your legs is to focus on exercises that work your legs, such as walking or running.
• Control your weight. A lot of the problems with varicose veins are caused by gravity and pressure, excess weight will cause too much pressure on your legs, and add to your chance of getting varicose veins.
• Do not cross your legs when sitting. This limits circulation, and makes your legs work harder.
• Elevate your legs when resting as much as possible. This will make the veins job easier because they will not have to fight gravity as much.
• Do not stand or sit for long periods of time. If you must stand for a long time, shift your weight from one leg to the other every few minutes. If you must sit for long periods of time, stand up and move around or take a short walk every 30 minutes or so, especially if you are on an airplane.
• Avoid too tight clothes, especially those that constrict waist, groin, or legs. You should wear elastic support stockings.
• Eat a low-salt diet rich in high-fiber foods. Eating too much salt can mean water retention and swelling which leads to more pressure on the veins.

Treatments:

There are treatments available for varicose veins, and usually they do not require any sort of hospital stay or recovery time.

For self help measures you can exercise to help strengthen muscles and vessels. You can lose weight to help eliminate the pressure. You can wear lose clothes. You can elevate your feet when you sit. You can avoid long periods of sitting and standing.

Varicose veins that develop during pregnancy generally improve without medical treatment within three months after delivery.

If you want to do more than ease pain, or if the self-help treatments mentioned do not do enough, your doctor may recommend one of the following:

• Sclerotherapy. This is a treatment where a doctor will inject small- and medium-sized varicose veins with a solution that scars and closes those veins. They should fade after a few weeks because blood will not enter them anymore. In some cases they may need to be injected more than once. This is a simple treatment that is effective if done right, and can be done at the doctor office, does not require the hospital. 
• Laser surgeries. This is a therapy where doctors use the newest technology in laser treatments to close off smaller varicose veins and spider veins. There are no incisions and no needles, instead, strong bursts of light are sent onto the vein, which makes the vein slowly fade and disappear.  
• Catheter-assisted procedures. This is a treatment that is mostly for large varicose veins, what the doctor will do is inset a thin tube, called a catheter, into the enlarged vein and heat the tip, as it is pulled out, the heat destroys the vein and causes it collapse and seal shut. 
• Vein stripping. This is a procedure where your doctor removes a long vein through small incisions. This is an outpatient procedure, and does not hurt blood flow, or affect circulation. 
• Ambulatory phlebectomy. For this procedure your doctor removes smaller varicose veins through a series of tiny skin punctures. They use anesthesia, though only local, and you could scar, though it is minimal. 
• Endoscopic vein surgery. This is the most severe treatment, and is really only used if you have leg ulcers. Basically your surgeon uses a video camera inserted into your leg to visualize and close the veins, and then remove them.

Talk to your health care professional about treatment options as many advertisements are misleading, and appealing, but may not be able to meet their claims. You will also want to know of any health risks or side effects that could be a result of the treatment option you choose. In addition to that, it is good to note that most cosmetic surgeries are not covered by insurance, so unless you have some of the more severe signs, such as swelling and bleeding, your treatment costs might be all up to you, so check that out before you opt for an expensive treatment.

Current treatments for varicose veins and spider veins are highly successful. However, it's possible that varicose veins can recur. So, that is another thing you want to check on because you would not want to spend a lot of money on a treatment option that has a low success rate.

Last but not least, let's look at the risks that varicose veins pose to the person suffering from them. Usually the biggest risk is that they are extremely painful. In this cases they are called ulcers and they are not actually the varicose veins, but instead may form on the skin near varicose veins, particularly near the ankles. Ulcers are the result of long-term "water logging" of these tissues, caused by increased pressure of blood within affected veins. So, in essence they are caused by the veins, but are not the veins themselves. Other risks include the rare occurrence of the veins deep within the legs enlarging and causing the leg to swell. This may indicate a blood clot, so check it out with your doctor if this occurs. Otherwise, the risks are simply cosmetic.