Vascular experts tell us how to diagnose, treat, and prevent varicose veins

 

If you complain of discomfort such as calf pain or numbness, you should consider venous disease in addition to arterial disease. One of the most common causes of vein disease is varicose veins.

 

Varicose veins are a phenomenon in which the valves of the superficial veins, located just below the skin of the legs, do not function normally, causing blood to stagnate or flow backwards. Patients with varicose veins experience swelling of the legs and discomfort and pain in the lower extremities as the main symptoms.

 

In recent years, the amount of activity has decreased, and the nutritional status has improved the most in history, resulting in various metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and high blood pressure, which makes people vulnerable to vascular diseases, resulting in diseases such as varicose veins.

 

 

Diagnosis of varicose veins

 

Venous Doppler ultrasonography is a type of ultrasound examination that detects the narrowing of blood vessels. As you do this, you can observe the opening and closing of the valve part of the vein, the sound of the waveform, the regurgitation of the waveform, and you can hear the sound. When you see a waveform that leaks blood flow for more than 3~4 seconds, it is diagnosed as a varicose vein.

 

Venous Doppler ultrasound examination is performed by placing the patient on a bed and tilting the bed so that the blood vessels can be clearly seen. In the past, it was discovered that venous edema was associated with pain, which led to the invention of this diagnostic method. If you look at the test results of a typical varicose vein patient, you can see that the blood flow is up, and then the blood flow is leaking downward.

 

If your legs swell during the day and go away while you sleep, and in the morning, if it's normal, you may not be diagnosed with varicose veins. When Doppler is tested, the results may be simple lymphedema, varicose veins, or arterial disease, so this is why it is necessary to visit a hospital for an accurate diagnosis through examination.

 

 

How to prevent varicose veins

 

If you have not yet been diagnosed with varicose veins, exercise can be a great help in preventing varicose veins. Patients who have never exercised can start walking. Since humans walk upright, anatomically, blood flow is bound to collect in the legs. In this case, it is the leg muscles that squeeze the blood flow in the legs and lift them upwards. Therefore, in order to prevent varicose veins, it is recommended to perform exercises at a gentle tempo, focusing on the muscles of the lower body, especially the calf muscles.

 

However, even though exercise is helpful, exercising too much lower body can increase blood flow to the lower body, which can have a negative effect. Avoid heavy weight exercises, long periods of cycling or long periods of core exercise, as they will send more blood flow to the lower body than necessary.

 

If you're struggling to exercise, it's helpful to stretch from time to time and raise your tiptoes when sitting.

 

 

Treatment of varicose veins

 

The fundamental treatment method for varicose veins is to proceed with the procedure. In general, there may be a reluctance to undergo the procedure, but after undergoing varicose vein treatment treatments such as laser, radiofrequency, Benasil, Clary, and Flegy, the symptoms improve significantly.

 

The reason why early diagnosis and treatment are important is that varicose veins repeatedly improve and get worse. If left untreated, expecting it to get better, it can lead to sudden swelling of the legs, skin pigmentation, and eczema. If the skin becomes inflamed due to this condition, it is difficult for the skin in the problem area to return to normal.

 

 

QnA related to varicose veins

Venous Doppler ultrasonography is not guaranteed to be done well by university hospitals. It is a diagnostic method that originated locally in the first place.

Varicose veins are a disease that occurs in the veins under the skin called superficial veins, and it is not a disease that causes problems in the heart. It is very rare for the vein to cause a pulmonary artery thrombus. In other words, there is no direct connection between varicose veins and cardiovascular disease.

Possibly. Female hormones contribute to blood vessel elasticity. When female hormones decrease after menopause, blood vessels become hardened, which can also cause varicose veins.

 

Q.. I'm taking supplements for leg edema, is there a problem?

Venous circulation enhancers such as ginkgo biloba extract and centella extract are plant flavonoids that do not have major side effects, but it is a good idea to check if they interact with other supplements and have regular checkups.