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Health

Pain in the veins

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 20.11.2021
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If there is pain in the veins, this is a very serious statement from the circulatory system of the body. This means that not everything can be normal with blood flow, and in addition, thrombi that prevent a person from fully living can be formed in the veins.

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Causes of inflammation of the veins

The veins expand due to stagnation in the bloodstream, which is blocked. If the blood stagnates for too long, the veins become highly stretched and become flabby, inelastic. Reducing again, they may not be so fast and not as effective.

The expansion of veins can last quite a long time, then the vein loses its strength. When the blood flow in the vein is slowed, it can cause the risk of blood clots that stick to the walls of the veins. A special substance is formed around the thrombus - fibrin.

Useful it can not be called, it performs the role of a kind of fence, inside of which lime accumulates. All this together - and phlebin, and lime inside, and blood clots that adhere to the walls - clog them and are called venous stone.

Blood clots in the vein and phlebolitis - venous stones - can clog the vein completely, stopping the blood flow. This can result in death for a person, especially if the vein is closer to the brain.

However, the veins can be mainly clogged in the rectum, on the legs or in the testicles (in men).

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Pain in the veins - causes

  • If a person spends a lot of time on his feet - is or is walking (cook, teacher, waiter, etc.)
  • If a woman has pregnancy several times in a row (then the load is mainly on the legs, and they swell, the venous flow of blood is difficult).
  • If a person has a wrong diet, why a lot of cholesterol accumulates in the blood, and so-called cholesterol plaques are formed.
  • If a person has hereditary diseases of blood, blood vessels, heart.

Diseases of pain in the veins

With these diseases, veins can be deformed, and pains in the veins that are very difficult to eliminate

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Varicose ulcers

If the veins are constantly expanding for any reason, their walls can become so thin that they burst, and then bleeding from the veins can bring a person to death. Vienna, which has burst, is an ulcer that will not heal for a long time. Of course, she will be ill, you need to take care of medical care.

Thrombophlebitis (occurs in superficial veins)

This is an inflammation of the venous wall, in which a thrombus forms in its cavity. There is no exception for any of the veins - thrombophlebitis can affect any of them.

The pain in the veins is so strong that it is felt even when touching.

Phlebitis and thrombophlebitis - these terms are often interchangeable, because thrombophlebitis is one of the phlebitis. This disease is accompanied by such symptoms: pain in the veins, their swelling, translucent veins through the skin, blood clots in the veins, a violation of venous outflow.

A thrombus is the greatest danger, as this blood clot can clog the vein, and then the bloodstream will stop, it can lead to death. A thrombus can come off the vein wall and move to the lungs through the circulatory system.

The lung can clog up and block the access of oxygen to a person. He can suffocate. And the blame for everything - a small clot of blood. Then, for treatment, you need anticoagulants, hospitalization and treatment in the hospital.

Deep vein thrombosis

This disease (another kind of phlebitis) can not be recognized immediately, because it is devoid of symptoms - at first. Then the main symptom is pain in the veins. But at the initial stage, deep vein thrombosis is very difficult, often impossible to recognize.

Most of the deep vein thrombosis affects those people who had or have paralysis of the hands or feet. Such cases are observed in more than half of people with paralysis, those who are forced to lie for a long time.

Deep vein thrombosis can be recognized, in addition to pain in the veins, also for such symptoms:

  1. Edema
  2. Pain during palpation in affected areas
  3. The temperature of the arm or leg is significantly increased, the limb is hot
  4. The calf muscle or the back of the foot hurts during its flexion (the syndrome of Homans)

True, these signs are dangerous because they can be in other diseases, and therefore deep vein thrombosis is very difficult to recognize even an experienced doctor. In studies, the diagnosis may not be confirmed, and yet, a person is afflicted with deep vein thrombosis.

It may be that deep vein thrombosis does not manifest itself at all, but thrombi are dangerous. They can clog the veins and lead to death due to blood stagnation in the affected veins.

Postphlebitic syndrome

This disease occurs after a person has had leg disease. Very often, post-phlebitis syndrome is caused by deep vein thrombosis, as well as other diseases of the veins associated with their plugging.

This often results in a deficiency in the venous valves, and with it - a violation of the outflow of blood in the veins. The disease is characterized by the fact that small thrombi can generally resolve - the fibrinolytic system of blood is responsible for this.

Thrombi have a property to resolve due to its biochemical composition, as a result of a thrombus replaced by a different in composition tissue - connective. There is a process of sewage - the whole area of the thrombus sprouts capillaries. The vein is restored (more accurately, its patency is restored), but there may be another consequence - the vein canals can be damaged, that is, they cease to function fully.

Anatomy of the veins

The venous system is superficial and deep. Between them are vessels with thin walls, they are called perforating veins. If these veins are damaged, then a person may have chronic venous insufficiency. In the venous vessels are the valves that control the flow of blood. Thanks to these valves, the blood flow goes in the same direction, as one-way traffic on the roadway.

What is the difference between arteries and veins? The fact that the veins are not as developed muscle layer as the arteries.

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Chronic venous inflammation

Not veins, but their inner shell - this inflammation occurs extremely rarely. As a rule, veins can lose lime from the walls, but they do not regenerate so often. A very thin and weak muscle layer is located around the veins, much weaker than around the arteries. The veins can be enlarged, because they do not have such good conditions for blood circulation, as in arteries.

With chronic inflammation of the venous walls, the vein can expand, anywhere in one site or in several at once. Then one of the walls protrudes and inflames even more. There may be pain in the veins.

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How sick veins look

  • They are expanded
  • They are swollen and uneven - veins may have bulging sites in the form of slides
  • Veins shine through the skin like blue ropes, sometimes they are dark purple
  • The veins are swollen, the legs can be sore, swollen and dull, very quickly tired, heavier.
  • The veins of a man swollen with swollen feet. Legs at the bottom can be covered with ulcers on the legs, and these ulcers very poorly heal.

Symptoms of Postphlebitic Syndrome

  • Pain in the veins (often these pains are aching, there is a heaviness in the leg, it feels as if it's being pounded). Occasionally, people with this disease are limping. But the pain in the veins is very stiff, sharp, like a knife. A person begins to limp because of venous outflow under strong pressure, he sometimes stops altogether as the load on the leg or the whole body increases.
  • The leg may swell. The reason for this can be a strong venous pressure, which causes the risk of plasma leakage through the walls of veins into the tissue area.
  • Reinforced skin pigmentation. The cause of this phenomenon - blood cells - red blood cells - go into a space that is not meant for blood cells. Because of this, a substance that destroys them - hemosiderin - forms in the tissues.
  • Sclerotic changes in the skin and subcutaneous tissue (skin sclerosis). The reason - the replacement of small thrombi with connective tissue and its proliferation. From this, the muscle tissue is destroyed.
  • Varicose veins (with the possible formation of blood clots in them).
  • Dermatitis is a skin disease accompanied by eczema and a rash in the area of the veins, even an internal venous rash. This is due to the fact that the plasma seeps through the skin to its surface.
  • Trophic ulcers on the surface of the legs. Culprits of ulcers are a violation of the biochemical composition of the blood because the nutrients can not penetrate into the tissues. As a result, solid sections of fibrinolysis arising from fibrin deposits are deposited on the way of venous drainage.
  • Sites of ulcers - in the lower third part of the shin, in the region between the ankles and the lower edge of the calf muscle. Frequent ulcers occur on the inner region of the shin - there are perforating veins most.

Pain in the superficial veins - how to cope with them

Completely with them it turns out not always. But to relieve the pain in the veins with thrombophlebitis is quite real for the patient. On the feet it is necessary to impose ice (this will ease the pain), take anti-inflammatory and pain medications, and also reduce the strain on the legs by interrupting work.

It is very good even at least once a day to relieve the venous blood outflow, throwing your feet up for 15 minutes, about 20 cm from the floor. To do this, you need a small pillow or 2-3, they put their feet, the person lies and rests. Pain in the veins with this method is significantly reduced or completely subsides.

How to cope with deep vein thrombosis

How to cope with deep vein thrombosis

First of all, you need to give up oral contraceptives. They cause difficulty in blood flow in the veins and the formation of thrombi, especially in those who have already suffered thrombosis or phlebitis. According to studies conducted in Ohio by members of the Department of Vascular Medicine of the Cleveland Clinical Foundation, patients who had or suffered from phlebitis had a relapse rate four times higher than those who did not take oral contraceptives. Especially high risk of recurrence of the disease - in those who suffer from phlebitis of superficial veins.

Warming feet and respite

This is indispensable for those people who suffer from vein diseases due to constant standing on their feet or their frequent uncomfortable position (for example, when sitting or frequent flights in an airplane). To rest their feet, they must be lifted up and applied to them warmly, but not dry, but wet.

The legs are important to lift up to a height of 20 cm above the breast (where the heart is). Blood in the veins at this position does not receive such a load as when standing. American studies in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of the Vascular Institute (Florida, Miami) confirm that such a leg position of 20 minutes a day can help to quickly cure phlebitis and relieve pain in the veins.

To clarify: for a week (a maximum of 10 days) pains occur in the phlebitis of superficial veins, and in order to stop the pains completely, you need from three weeks to one and a half months.

Monitor the load on your legs if you already had phlebitis

The patient should know that if he already had leg or vein diseases, relapse is likely. That is, a person who has already had venous disease, a greater risk of their occurrence again than a healthy person.

Therefore, you need to rest your feet periodically or reduce the load on them, if such a load is high. The reverse situation with an increased risk of vein diseases - when a person stays in bed for a long time. The load on the legs is minimal, and their functions (in particular, the function of the veins) can atrophy. It is important to foresee these circumstances and to protect themselves, to prevent risk factors.

Preventive measures should also be taken if you did not have a thrombosis, but you are already at the age of 50 years, when many functions of the body are lost or significantly lost ground.

If a person undergoes surgery, in particular, on the veins, then after it one should get up and move slowly as early as possible. The less time a person lies in bed, the less time he will be rehabilitated after the operation and the faster he will heal the veins on his legs. Thus, the risk of the emergence and development of dangerous phlebitis is reduced.

Take aspirin for blood thinning

This drug, according to studies, can dilute the blood and reduce the inflammatory process in the veins. This will help the phlebitis to reduce its speed, blood clots do not form at all or are formed with much less frequency.

According to studies conducted at the University of Miami blood vessels, aspirin should be taken even before a person is assigned to bed rest after surgery. Then the wounds will heal much faster, and most importantly - it will prevent the risk of developing new blood clots. And also because the blood will be much less thicken and stagnate.

However, experts recommend using aspirin cautiously, because it can negatively affect the gastric mucosa. Therefore, the dose and frequency of use of aspirin should be checked with your doctor.

Go in for sports

If you have a tendency to form blood clots and pain in the veins, then you need to monitor your motor activity regimen. If a person travels a lot, then it is necessary to take breaks for walking.

If there is a lot of stress in your legs due to constant standing work, then you need to periodically give relief to your feet, sit down and relax. Every hour for 10-15 rest legs - and your veins will be much healthier.

Go

If walking makes you tired on foot, you need to walk to short distances, then your legs will receive a normal, not excessive load, and the veins will not be so tense. If the blood flow stagnates, the blood will begin to circulate much more slowly, this is an increased risk of clots.

Must quit smoking

If a person's legs hurt, the veins and the doctor can not determine the cause of this severity in the legs and the cause of the venous pain - it is worth giving up cigarettes. This may be the so-called Bourges disease, which has not yet touched the arteries, but with increased production of harmful tobacco tar, the arteries will soon also be affected. What is Bourget's disease?

This is a strong sharp pain in the veins and lower extremities, while in the veins clots are formed. These clots can interfere with blood flow, slowing it down. If a person also smokes, this increases the formation of blood clots. Bourges disease first manifests itself as phlebitis, but it can be an erroneous diagnosis.

From phlebitis, this disease is different in that it develops too quickly when smoking. The best and only treatment for this disease is to quit smoking.

Improve blood flow in the veins

If a person is practicing sports or physical training, it helps the veins to be in a more emaciated state - the blood flow moves along them more actively. If the veins have low blood pressure, it helps them to stay healthy longer. With high pressure, the walls of the veins can collapse more quickly. There is pain, and the person suffers.

Walking or running, or simply charging for 15 minutes in the mornings helps the veins reduce the load inside. Valves that help the blood do not return back to the lower limbs, work better if the veins have no stagnation of blood. And to prevent it, the only effective tool is walking.

Wear elastic tights or stockings

They are needed so that the phlebitis does not return again. Stockings facilitate the work of veins and make the pain weaker.

Less fly in airplanes if you have pain in your veins

Very often cases when a prolonged flight there is a thrombosis (blockage of the vessels of the legs). It is called a syndrome of commercial class. The veins are clogged not only from the air pressure, but also because they are pressurized. If you already had to board the plane, wear elastic stockings - this will reduce the burden on the veins.

When you are in the air, do not sit all the time in the chair. If possible, let the feet unload, getting up from the chair and strolling through the salon every 30-40 minutes. If you understand that you are interfering with the neighbors, in advance choose a place near the aisle.

What are the signs of an infection?

Patients often worry that with phlebitis (any form of it) blood clots can come off, clog the lungs, and a person can die. This is rare, but to avoid the risk of a fatal outcome due to the separation of blood clots, it is important to treat phlebitis at any stage of it.

Note: if a person has redness of the legs, pain in the veins, pain in the leg area, itching, high body temperature or in the aching limb, and these symptoms worry for at least a week, you need to see a doctor.

These signs can be a signal that the body has hidden the infection. With it you can cope with the help of antibiotics and pain medications.

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