Are you suffering from painful, tingling, tense legs, especially when you keep standing or sitting for long hours? Do you find bluish, purplish colored veins bulging all over your lower legs? Do your legs feel heavy and tired, especially at night, accompanied by a hardening of skin and itching? If all these symptoms seem familiar to you, then you are suffering from the initial stage of venous insufficiency. In the United States, nearly 19% of men and 44% of women suffer from venous problems, once they reach the age of 30-35 years. However, some symptoms are left untreated and ignored by most people, and as a result, by the time they reach 50 years, 42% of men and 54% of women get affected by some form of varicosities.
Uncomfortable legs make it difficult for you to carry on with the normal daily activities. It takes away the enjoyment from your life. It’s no good putting up with these painful feelings and taking it as an unavoidable part of becoming aged. The pain in varicose veins can be lessened if you go for proper treatment.
Why do you get varicose veins?
The veins in the legs, especially in the lower part, function very hard to transport the blood back to our heart, acting against the force of gravity. However, our fast lifestyle compels us to sit or stand for a prolonged period, which exerts tremendous pressure on the vein circulation on the legs. With age, the valves in the veins, which prevent the blood from flowing back into the veins become weak and cease to work properly. As a result, the leg veins experience heavy load, making the blood enter into the veins and the surrounding tissues, causing the veins to enlarge, swell, and pain, giving your legs the ‘heavy feeling’.
Age is a major factor of getting affected by varicose veins condition, as the vein walls weaken, the tissues weaken. Some other factors are genetic, hormonal imbalance due to menopause or pregnancy, obesity, long flights, wearing tight-fitted clothing all the time, excessive alcohol consumption, and prolonged sitting or standing. If varicose veins condition is left untreated, it can cause damage to the skin and even lead to skin ulcer.
What are the first signs of varicose veins?
The first sign of varicose veins start with mild itchiness and eczema of the skin, generally just above the ankle. Though many people sort out the condition by applying some steroid-base crèmes, but in the long run, they fail to give satisfactory results. Steroid-base crèmes also can damage the skin making it fragile and thin. If the itching is neglected, it can result in severe eczema, with inflamed, scaly, and red skin all around the lower leg. You can also notice darkening of the skin color, first to a pale brown and then to a darker brown or shiny white. These are all signs of advanced skin damage.
Once you observe these signs troubling you, immediately contact a reputed physician who comes with years of experience in treating varicose veins.
