When you stand for a long time, your calves become sore and numb, you always feel tired in your legs when you sleep at night, and it's not comfortable to put them anywhere, and you often get cramps when the weather isn't cold...
When it comes to these situations, many people think that they are just too tired and it's okay to take a break. In fact, it could be varicose veins.
Varicose veins in the lower limbs, commonly known as "earthworm legs", are due to prolonged standing and sitting, or congenital venous wall weakness, venous valve insufficiency, resulting in accumulation of blood in the veins, the pressure inside the veins increases and the veins appear tortuous expansion.
From the appearance, it is mostly manifested as twisted and curved earthworm-like veins protruding, and sometimes there is atrophy of the calf skin, desquamation, hyperpigmentation, etc. Although it is painless, it is not only a problem, but it is also a problem for the skin. Although it is painless, it not only affects the aesthetic appearance, but also brings potential harm to the body.
The pathogenesis of varicose veins is divided into endogenous and exogenous causes:
1. Endogenous Causes
There are many "Venous Valves in the veins of the legs. " Venous valves in the veins of the legs act as one-way valves to help return blood from the veins to the heart, preventing the blood from flowing backwards.
But these valves can be damaged for some reason, and the valves don't close properly, causing blood to flow backward, which can lead to stagnation of blood in the veins of the lower limbs, resulting in the formation of varicose veins.
Therefore, if the vein wall is weak due to heredity, the vein valves have developmental problems and varicose veins are easy to find; in addition, with the growth of age , the veins also become abnormally dilated, resulting in varicose veins.
2. External causes
① Standing for a long time : People who stand for a long time will make the veins dilated, the valves can not be closed, it is difficult for the blood to return, and then it is easy to form varicose veins.
② sedentary: will lead to pelvic congestion, bringing more pressure to the lower limbs.
Stilts legs, legs and other sitting positions are also very easy to press the popliteal veins, affecting blood flow. People who often sit in these positions should also be careful about developing varicose veins.
③ Chronic cough and constipation: This kind of symptom will invariably increase the pressure in the abdominal cavity, which will also affect the venous return of the lower limbs.
④ Obesity, pregnancy: This is not a direct cause, but excessive force on the legs may cause poor venous return to the legs and aggravate venous dilatation.
In medicine, varicose veins are artificially divided into 7 stages from 0 to 6.
Stage 0 - This is the stage where symptoms of varicose veins are mildest and easily ignored. It is generally characterized by sore and swollen legs, weakness, leg swelling and easy cramping.
Stage 1 - the vasodilatation stage, in which varicose veins are usually characterized by dilatation of capillaries in the lower extremities, reticular varicose veins, and spider vein varicose veins.
Stage 2 - This stage of varicose veins is characterized by persistent dilatation of the superficial subcutaneous veins, and the appearance of "worm-like" curved blood vessels in the lower limbs.
Patients with varicose veins at this stage can be treated without surgery, but it is important to correct the bad habits such as sedentary and stilted legs to slow down the progression of the disease.
Stage 3 - This is the period when complications begin to appear, accompanied by localized itching of the skin.
Stage 4 - the skin on the legs begins to show eczema, hyperpigmentation and other symptoms.
Stage 5 - ulcers appear on the skin of the leg injuries, which can heal with proper health care.
Stage 6 - At this stage, the ulcers do not heal and often flow with pus and water.
Initially, the limb will appear subcutaneous capillary dilatation, that is, the vein pattern is very obvious, and over time there will be subcutaneous vascular dilatation, tortuous into a mass, if not actively treated, often in the lower legs and ankles, skin pigmentation, dermatitis, eczema, and the formation of ulcers, but also due to the rupture of the varicose veins and lead to bleeding.
If the following symptoms appear, it is likely that venous thrombosis is staring at you.
01 Itching
Localized itching in the lower limbs, which can be aggravated by dermatitis or eczema in severe cases, can be unbearable.
02 Pain
manifested by cramps in the calves and mild edema.
03 Sinking
After walking for a while, there is a sinking and swelling sensation in the stomach of the legs, often light in the morning and heavy in the evening. Sometimes it also causes edema of the skin of the lower legs, especially the ankles.
04 Hard
Manifested as skin flaking, red, purple, or even black, the skin loses elasticity and becomes hard.
05 Rotten
The beginning of the inflammation may be just oozing, followed by ulcers, the old is not good, the more rotten, the bigger, the more rotten, the deeper, and ultimately necrosis of the skin, commonly known as the "old rotten leg".
What's worse, varicose veins can lead to sudden death. This is because varicose veins are lesions that occur in the superficial veins, while deep veins are also found deep in the legs. It is through the superficial veins that blood flows into the deep veins and then back to the heart.
If varicose veins are left unchecked for a long time, venous blood can clot in the deep veins of the lower limbs, forming deep vein thrombosis. If you exercise violently, the thrombus may dislodge and flow down the vein to the heart and then from the heart to the pulmonary artery, causing a pulmonary embolism.
Once the pulmonary artery is blocked, there will be two fatal results:
01. People engaged in sedentary occupations for a long time
Such as teachers, drivers, medical staff, company employees, manual laborers, etc., the blood flow is subjected to the continuous action of gravity resulting in reflux, reflux of blood for a long time on the venous valves to cause pressure, and slowly there will be valvular insufficiency, high pressure in the veins leading to varicose. The veins can also become hyperventilated, resulting in varicose veins.
02. Elderly
Elderly people are old, the elasticity of the blood vessels decreases, the tension of the blood vessel wall decreases, and the venous valves become dysfunctional, which leads to varicose veins.
03. Chronic constipation
Chronic constipation leads to difficulty in defecation and increases the abdominal pressure, which can also form an obstacle to blood reflux and induce or aggravate varicose veins.
01. Venous Functional Exercises
Sit on a chair and lift one leg parallel to the ground. Press the sole of the foot straight down and hold for 5 seconds, then bow the sole of the foot by applying pressure towards the body and hold for 5 seconds.
Stand with your right and left feet crossed, slowly press down and bend over, keep your hands vertically down close to your ankles, be careful to take your time so you don't strain your muscles, stay for 5 seconds, then get up.
02. Reduce the pressure on your legs
Unless you have to, try not to stand for more than an hour. It's best to walk a few steps every half hour. When standing, cross your legs slightly to avoid muscle tension.
If you have varicose veins, do not participate in activities like square dancing, mountain climbing, hiking, etc.
Control your weight.
Control your weight to reduce the burden on your calves.
Lift less heavy objects to avoid increasing the pressure on the lower limbs.
(graphic from the network, if there is infringement, please contact to delete)