The Real Danger Of Ignoring Varicose Veins

By Stella Gay


Women from Austin, TX to the Far East have or will someday be faced with the suffering of discolored and bulging in their venous system. Rarely is this condition spoken of, even to her health care provider. For reasons that are their own, many women fail to seek treatment for their varicose veins.

Women usually hate spiders, so naturally they sometimes refer to this condition as a spider vein. They develop when there is added pressure on the legs and feet, resulting in blue rope-like lines near the surface of the skin. Doctors have treatments they can recommend, but they do not always know about the condition unless the woman seeks their counsel.

Self-care procedures can include elevating the feet or wearing compression hose in order to ease the pain one might experience. Often women will suffer aching and throbbing in the legs, or itching near the site of a spider vein. The condition can be quite painful for some women, but women will never speak to a doctor about treatment options. Women are sometimes under the impression that it is something they have to live with, and sometimes they even believe they brought this condition onto themselves through inadequate exercise.

A condition known as venous insufficiency can result in a rare but dangerous level of poor circulation. For women who routinely ignore leg pain, the real danger comes as a stroke or aneurysm when a vein progresses to being a clot. Failure to seek help can result in a dangerous blood clot that may be untreatable, leaving her with only the option of amputation.

This condition occurs for most women due to pregnancy or advancing age. The vein loses elasticity and is unable to successfully bring the blood back up the legs and to the heart, against the flow of gravity. This causes some blood to pool back down into the vein, thus enlarging it. Those women who suffer varicosities during pregnancy will generally see a post-natal improvement without further treatment.

Men occasionally suffer with variations of this ailment, but it is generally an affliction suffered by women. Hormonal changes from pregnancy and aging play a factor, although obesity and a tendency to stand or sit in one position for long periods of time are a more primary cause. A woman may begin to see blue rope-like strands on her legs and feet, just below the surface of the skin.

Women often believe that being on their feet promotes a more healthy lifestyle, and they would be correct most of the time. However, if there is not enough movement going on, she is contributing to the pressure on her lower body. This is a tough reality for women who push themselves to lead an active life with hopes of keeping their bodies unmarred while approaching life changes such as parenthood or middle age.

The good news is that regular exercise focused on creation and maintenance of muscle tone in the legs and butt can fix old varicosities, and compression stockings can prevent new ones from forming. Horse chestnut seed extract is known to promote healthy circulation, and thus has been shown to result in improvement as well. Should she have a more advanced problem such as bleeding ulcers on her ankles caused by venous insufficiency, laser surgery or sclerotherapy are two options she has available to her.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment