Varicose veins of the lower extremities are a chronic disease, which is expressed by a violation of the mechanism of blood flow in the veins. Because of this, the venous walls are under constant pressure, gradually thinning, nodular enlargements form in the veins.
As a result of the stagnation of blood in the veins of the lower extremities, varicose veins develop. It is manifested by swelling of the peripheral veins of the legs and their protrusion under the skin. The veins look semicircular and take on a bluish tinge. There is severe pain in the legs.
The varicose vein progresses without treatment, complicated by thrombophlebitis and food ulcers. The treatment of varicose veins should start with the first symptoms in order to prevent the development of the disease.
First of all, for the treatment of varicose veins in the legs, doctors use conservative methods. If these do not work, then they resort to surgery.
Physiotherapy
In the treatment of varicose veins in the legs, an important place is given to physiotherapy methods. The main ones are the following:
- Electrophoresis?
- Lymphatic drainage?
- Hyperbaric oxygenation.
- Galvanizing
- Magnetotherapy?
- Darsonvalization;
- Exposure to ultraviolet light
- UHF and others.
The most popular process is darsonvalization. It is performed with a special device that produces weak electrical discharges. Moving it along the legs from bottom to top for 15 minutes for each limb. The course of treatment for varicose veins is about 20 sessions (depending on the degree of development of the disease). As a result, vascular tone returns to normal, lymphatic outflow and microcirculation in the legs improves.
Pulse magnetotherapy is performed using a magnetic field generator, which causes swirling electric currents in the tissues of the lower extremities, which have a therapeutic effect. As a result of this effect, the muscle fibers of the vascular walls in the legs are stimulated and stimulated. This improves blood circulation to the extremities, reduces swelling and reduces pain. Depending on the degree of varicose veins, the session lasts from 10 to 20 minutes.
Spiritual compression also helps to restore the tone of the veins and blood vessels through a kind of massage. A boot-like device is placed on the patient's leg. It is pressed by the gas supply. However, the method should be rejected for those patients with varicose veins who have a tendency to thrombosis.
Spa therapy is an effective method of treating varicose veins in the foot, which consists of performing mineral water baths. The baths themselves are defined locally or generally. Hydrotherapy is an opposite local bath. These methods are particularly effective in the early stages of the disease. The manifestations of varicose veins to treat these methods at this stage are quite effective.
Oxygenation
In addition to local physiotherapy procedures, others are performed that affect the whole body as a whole. For example, oxygen shower gel improves blood circulation, relieving the symptoms of varicose veins in the legs. Hyperbaric oxygenation is useful. During the session, the patient inhales pure oxygen at a pressure above one and a half atmospheres.
Ozone therapy is associated with this method. Ozone inhalation activates many processes in the patient's body: microcirculation is improved, metabolism is normalized and regeneration is accelerated. At therapeutic doses, ozone also prevents the formation of clots, slightly dilutes the blood. The course of treatment of varicose veins with ozone is 5 - 10 procedures with an interval of 2 days between them.
Physiotherapy is especially effective in the early and middle stages of the disease. Physiotherapy procedures must be prescribed by a venologist.
Medication
Medication on how to treat varicose veins in the legs is of secondary importance. They are the key to successful treatment and the high efficiency of the main method. Medications are prescribed during physiotherapy and other methods of conservative treatment and after surgery.
There are many medications to treat varicose veins. They can be used in combination or separately. A venologist should appoint a suitable one. All drugs can be divided into several groups:
- Phlebotonic?
- Anticoagulants?
- Decongestants;
- Different?
- Antioxidants
- Fibrinolytics.
Phlebotonics allow you to increase the tone of the walls of blood vessels and veins and are therefore effective in treating varicose veins in the leg. The walls become stronger and denser. The effect of treatment with other methods is stable. Blood circulation in the legs improves, lymphatic outflow improves. They are prescribed to prepare for surgery and as a recovery after that, relieving inflammation in the varicose vein.
Anticoagulants are drugs that work to reduce the blood's ability to coagulate. This prevents the formation of blood clots, which is very important for varicose veins of the foot. They can be taken as pills or injections. Taking them without consulting a doctor is dangerous, because they have a side effect - bleeding, which is difficult to stop.
Decongestants can be taken orally as pills or externally as gels and ointments. In the form of tablets, they are mainly used as diuretics. Such drugs significantly reduce the pain of varicose veins in the legs, as well as additional pressure on the walls of the veins. Their use improves blood circulation.
Different - drugs that also affect blood clotting, however, do not belong to anticoagulants. They stop the coagulation process only in the early stages and therefore do not belong to anticoagulants. They do not have a significant effect on general coagulation indices. When used as an adjunct to varicose veins, they have the same effect as anticoagulants.
Antioxidants work by detoxifying. As a result of the restoration of chemical bonds in the cells, the tone of the walls of blood vessels and veins is enhanced. As a result, the treatment of varicose veins is much faster.
Fibrinolytics prevent blood clots. This is due to the destruction of fibrin, which is part of the blood clot. The use of a drug from this group allows the blood plasminogen (an inactive protein) to take the form of plasmin, which causes the destruction of a blood clot. However, taking this medicine does not prevent further varicose veins.
The pharmaceutical company has developed a whole range of drugs that combine the properties of several described groups. Such drugs must be prescribed by a doctor and taken strictly under his supervision. This is because they have several side effects.
The use of medicines for varicose veins in the legs may not be the only measure. They are recommended in combination with other treatments.
Laser treatment
This is an effective way to treat varicose veins in the legs. The principle of operation of the laser in this disease lies in its effect on hemoglobin. Hemoglobin absorbs laser light and produces heat in the blood. As a result, the damaged vessel is "sealed". The laser also indirectly affects the tone of the walls of blood vessels and veins, because it causes spasm of these walls. The advantage of such a collision is its accuracy. It only affects certain tissues, without affecting the environment in any way.
After exposure to the laser, the movement of blood through the treated area will stop. The blood supply to this part of the limb will be produced by deeper veins. In the "non-functional" part of the vessel, connective tissue is formed, which will dissolve over time.
The advantage of this method to get rid of varicose veins is its minimal trauma. Patients do not experience discomfort or pain after the intervention. In addition, there are other advantages:
- The method does not require incisions in the skin, unlike surgery. So there are no scars left after that. There are also no bruises after the procedure.
- The procedure is short and is performed under local anesthesia. With this in mind, it is as safe as possible for health, as opposed to surgery, which is performed under general anesthesia.
- From an economic point of view, laser treatment of varicose veins is similar to surgery. Although it seems more expensive, however, it should be borne in mind that after this the patient does not have to go through a recovery period and remain on sick leave for a long time or spend money on recovery.
Many diseases can be treated with laser. It has become a good alternative to many types of procedures. Minimal trauma, painless and effective - all this makes laser treatment preferable in many cases.
Sclerotherapy
Sclerotherapy is a popular method of treating varicose veins in the legs, which is sometimes referred to as physiotherapy. Essentially, special drugs are injected into the veins. The method is non-traumatic and effective, and is therefore popular. This method is sometimes comparable in effectiveness to a laser and even surgery. After such a procedure, the walls of the vessel are glued and strengthened, due to which it is possible to beat the varicose veins of the legs. And the drug is absorbed into the body.
The main advantage of the method of getting rid of the disease is the absence of scars and bruises after the procedure. It is also important that it is not too painful and that it can be done under local anesthesia. After the procedure, the integrity of the circulatory system is not violated, because the veins are not removed. Such an intervention can be an ideal choice both when the use of surgical methods is dangerous - with thrombophlebitis, periphlebitis, and in the treatment of relapses of the disease, when the veins are fragile and distorted.
The method has many contraindications. First of all, this is pregnancy and lactation. Serious diseases of the cardiovascular system, diabetes, chronic liver and kidney diseases, allergies - all these will also become a contraindication to the use of sclerotherapy, it is better to think about how to treat varicose veins differently.
If your doctor prescribes sclerotherapy, then you should be alerted to possible contraindications. When a patient has chronic conditions of any nature, then the possibility of using sclerotherapy remains questionable.
Surgery
Surgery is a traumatic and painful way to effectively treat severe leg varicose veins. However, only its efficiency reaches 100%. In addition, sometimes it takes much less time than any other. Of the minuses, one can name large scars and scars, a long recovery period. There are several types of surgery:
- Stripping involves removing a portion of a vein with a thin catheter. It is injected at the beginning of the vein and withdrawn at the end. In this case, the area attached to the catheter turns outwards as it is, making it easy to remove.
- Phlebectomy is a traditional surgical method for treating varicose veins, which involves cutting the tissue with a scalpel. It is performed both when minimally invasive intervention is impossible, for example, when significant areas are affected or there is severe inflammation, as well as for other indications.
- Microlevectomy is considered a minimally invasive procedure. Helps in the effective treatment of varicose veins. From the type of execution, it is similar to the previous method, only the incisions in the skin become very small. Thus, it is less traumatic. It can be done when the damage is not so severe and it is not necessary to remove a large part of the vein.
This method has a number of indications and contraindications. Thus, pregnant women and those who have recently given birth can not intervene. After giving birth, you should wait at least a month and a half. In the early stages of varicose veins, you should also not use this method.
Surgery is not a guarantee for the absence of recurrence of varicose veins in the leg. You need to take care of your health.
Many methods for treating varicose veins in the legs allow the doctor to choose the best one for each specific case. However, the more the disease starts, the more radical method should be chosen. Therefore, you should not delay contacting a doctor if you notice the first symptoms of varicose veins in your leg.