Vein pain

If there is pain in the veins, this is a very serious statement from the body's circulatory system. This means that not everything may be normal with the blood flow, and in addition, blood clots may form in the veins, preventing a person from living a full life.

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Causes of vein inflammation

Veins dilate due to stagnation in the bloodstream, which is clogged. If the blood stagnates for too long, the veins stretch too much and become flabby and inelastic. They may not contract again as quickly or as effectively.

The dilation of veins can last for quite a long time, then the vein loses its strength. When the blood flow in the vein is slow, this can cause the risk of blood clots, which stick to the walls of the veins. A special substance called fibrin forms around the thrombus.

It cannot be called useful, it acts as a kind of fence, inside which lime accumulates. All this together - both phlebin, and lime inside, and thrombi stuck to the walls - clog them and are called venous stones.

Blood clots in a vein and phleboliths - vein stones - can block the vein completely, stopping blood flow. This can be fatal for a person, especially if the vein is closer to the brain.

True, veins can become blocked mainly in the rectum, on the legs, or in the testicular area (in men).

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Pain in the veins - causes

• If a person spends a lot of time on their feet – standing or walking (cook, teacher, waiter, etc.)
• If a woman becomes pregnant several times in a row (then the load falls mainly on the legs, and they swell, venous blood flow is impeded).
• If a person has an unhealthy diet, which causes a lot of cholesterol to accumulate in the blood, so-called cholesterol plaques are formed.
• If a person has hereditary diseases of the blood, blood vessels, and heart.

Diseases with pain in veins

With these diseases, the veins can become deformed, and pain in the veins occurs, which is very difficult to eliminate.

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Varicose ulcers

If veins are constantly dilated for any reason, their walls can become so thin that they burst, and then bleeding from the veins can lead to death. A vein that has burst is an ulcer that will not heal for a long time. Of course, it will hurt, you need to take care of medical care.

Thrombophlebitis (occurs in the 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 can be felt even when touched.

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

The thrombus is the biggest danger, because this blood clot can block the vein, and then the blood flow will stop, which can lead to death. The thrombus can break away from the wall of the vein and move to the lungs through the circulatory system.

The lung can become blocked and block the oxygen supply to a person. He can suffocate. And the culprit is a small blood clot. Then anticoagulants, hospitalization and inpatient treatment are needed for treatment.

Deep vein thrombosis

This disease (another type of phlebitis) may not be recognized immediately because it is asymptomatic – 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.

Deep vein thrombosis most often affects people who have had or have paralysis of the arms or legs. Such cases are observed in more than half of people with paralysis, those who are forced to lie down for a long time.

Deep vein thrombosis can be recognized, in addition to pain in the veins, by the following symptoms:

1. Edema
2. Pain on palpation in the affected areas
3. The temperature of the hand or foot is significantly elevated, the limb is hot
4. Pain in the calf muscle or the back of the foot when it is flexed (Homans syndrome)

True, these signs are dangerous because they can also be present in other diseases, and therefore deep vein thrombosis is very difficult to recognize even for an experienced doctor. During examinations, the diagnosis may not be confirmed, and nevertheless, the person is affected by deep vein thrombosis.

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

Postphlebitic syndrome

This disease occurs after a person has suffered from leg diseases. Very often, postphlebitic syndrome is provoked by deep vein thrombosis, as well as other vein diseases associated with their blockage.

This often leads to venous valve insufficiency, and with it, a violation of the outflow of blood in the veins. The disease is characterized by the fact that small blood clots can completely dissolve - the fibrinolytic system of the blood is to blame for this.

Blood clots tend to dissolve due to their biochemical composition, as a result the blood clot is replaced by a different tissue composition – connective tissue. The process of canalization occurs – capillaries grow throughout the entire area of the blood clot. The vein is restored (more precisely, its patency is restored), but there may be another consequence – the valves of the vein canals may be damaged, that is, they cease to function fully.

Anatomy of veins

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

What is the difference between arteries and veins? The difference is that veins do not have such a developed muscle layer as arteries.

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Chronic inflammation of the veins

Not the veins, but their inner lining - this inflammation occurs extremely rarely. As a rule, veins can lose lime from the walls, but they do not degenerate so often. Around the veins there is a very thin and weak muscle layer, much weaker than around the arteries. Veins can be subject to expansion, since they do not have such good conditions for blood circulation as arteries.

With chronic inflammation of the venous walls, the vein can expand, somewhere in one area or in several at once. Then one of the walls bulges and becomes even more inflamed. Pain in the veins may occur.

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What do diseased veins look like?

• They are expanded
• They are swollen and uneven - there may be protruding areas in the veins in the form of hills
• The veins show through the skin like blue ropes, sometimes they are dark purple in color.
• The veins are swollen, the legs may hurt, swell and go numb, they get tired very quickly and become heavy.
• The veins of a person are swollen with swollen feet. The legs below can become covered with ulcers on the shins, and these ulcers heal very poorly.

Symptoms of postphlebitic syndrome

• Pain in the veins (often these pains are aching, there is a feeling of heaviness in the leg, a feeling that the leg is bursting). Occasionally, people with this disease limp. But in this case, the pain in the veins is very hard, sharp, like a knife. A person begins to limp because the venous outflow occurs under strong pressure, it sometimes stops altogether when the load on the leg or the whole body increases.
• The leg may swell. This may be due to high venous pressure, which causes the risk of plasma leaking through the vein walls into the tissue area.
• Increased pigmentation of the skin. The reason for this phenomenon is that blood cells - erythrocytes - enter the space that is not intended for blood cells. Because of this, a substance that destroys them - hemosiderin - is formed in the tissues.
• Sclerotic changes in the skin and subcutaneous tissue (sclerosis of the skin). The cause is the replacement of small blood clots by connective tissue and its growth. As a result, muscle tissue is destroyed.
• Varicose veins (enlarged veins with possible formation of blood clots in them).
• Dermatitis is a skin condition that causes eczema and rashes in the veins, even internal venous rashes. This is due to plasma seeping through the skin onto its surface.
• Trophic ulcers on the surface of the legs. The cause of ulcers is considered to be a violation of the biochemical composition of the blood due to the fact that nutrients cannot penetrate the tissues. As a result, solid areas of fibrinolysis are deposited on the path of venous outflow, which occurs due to fibrin deposits.
• Ulcer areas are in the lower third of the shin, in the area between the ankles and the lower edge of the calf muscle. Ulcers are common on the inner part of the shin, where there are the most perforating veins.

Pain in superficial veins - how to deal with it

It is not always possible to cope with them completely. But it is quite possible for the patient to relieve pain in the veins with thrombophlebitis. You need to apply ice to your legs (this will relieve the pain), take anti-inflammatory and painkillers, and also reduce the load on your legs by taking breaks from work.

It is also very good to facilitate venous blood outflow at least once a day by throwing your legs up for 15 minutes, about 20 cm from the floor. For this you will need a small pillow or 2-3, put your legs on them, the person lies down and rests. With this method, the pain in the veins is significantly reduced or completely subsides.

How to Cope with Deep Vein Thrombosis

First of all, you need to give up oral contraceptives. They provoke difficulty in blood flow in the veins and the formation of blood clots, especially in those people who have already suffered from thrombosis or phlebitis. According to research conducted in Ohio by employees of the Department of Vascular Medicine of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, in patients who have or have suffered from phlebitis, the frequency of relapses is 4 times higher than in those who did not take oral contraceptives. The risk of recurrence of the disease is especially high in those who suffer from phlebitis of the superficial veins.

Warming your feet and taking a break

This is irreplaceable for those people who suffer from vein diseases due to constant standing on their legs or their frequent uncomfortable position (for example, when sitting or frequent flights on an airplane). To give your legs a rest, you need to raise them up and apply heat to them, but not dry, but moist.

It is important to raise your legs up to a height of 20 cm above the chest level (where the heart is located). The blood in the veins in this position does not receive such a load as when standing. American studies in the cardiovascular surgery department of the Vascular Institute (Florida, Miami) confirm that such a position of the legs for 20 minutes a day can help quickly cure phlebitis and relieve pain in the veins.

To clarify: pain from phlebitis of the superficial veins goes away within a week (maximum 10 days), and for the pain to stop bothering you completely, it takes from three weeks to a month and a half.

Control the load on your legs if you have already had phlebitis

The patient should know that if he/she has already had leg or vein diseases, then relapses are quite likely. That is, a person who has already had vein diseases has a higher risk of their recurrence than a healthy person.

Therefore, it is necessary to give your legs a rest periodically or reduce the load on them if such load is great. The opposite situation with an increased risk of venous diseases is when a person stays in bed for a long time. The load on the legs is minimal, and their functions (in particular, the functions of the veins) can atrophy. It is important to foresee these circumstances and take care of yourself, prevent risk factors.

Preventive measures should also be taken if you have not had blood clots, but you are already over 50 years old, when many of the body's functions have been lost or have significantly declined.

If a person has undergone surgery, in particular, on veins, then after it it is necessary to get up and slowly move as soon as possible. The less time a person lies in bed, the less time he will have to rehabilitate after surgery and the faster his leg veins will heal. Thus, the risk of occurrence and development of dangerous phlebitis is reduced.

Take aspirin to thin your blood

This drug, according to studies, is able to thin the blood and reduce the inflammatory process in the veins. This will help phlebitis to slow down, blood clots do not form at all or form with much less frequency.

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

However, experts recommend using aspirin with caution, as it can have a negative effect on the gastric mucosa. Therefore, the dose and frequency of aspirin use should be clarified with the attending physician.

Do physical exercise

If you have a tendency to develop blood clots and vein pain, then you need to monitor your physical activity regime. If a person drives a lot, then it is necessary to take breaks for walking.

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

Go ahead

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

It is necessary to quit smoking

If a person has pain in the legs, veins and the doctor cannot determine the cause of this heaviness in the legs and the cause of venous pain - it is worth giving up cigarettes. This may be the so-called Bourget's disease, which has not yet affected the arteries, but with increased intake of harmful tobacco resins, the arteries will soon be affected too. What is Bourget's disease?

This is a severe, sharp pain in the veins and lower extremities, and clots form in the veins. These clots can interfere with blood flow, slowing it down. If a person also smokes, this worsens the formation of blood clots. Bourget's disease initially manifests itself as phlebitis, but this can be a misdiagnosis.

This disease differs from phlebitis in that it develops too quickly when smoking. The best and only treatment for this disease is to quit smoking.

Improve blood flow in your veins

If a person does sports or physical exercise, it helps the veins to be in a more empty state - the blood flow moves through them more actively. If the veins have low pressure, it helps them to stay healthy longer. With high pressure, the walls of the veins can break down faster. Pain occurs, and the person suffers.

Walking or running, or just doing 15 minutes of exercise in the morning helps the veins to reduce the load inside. The valves that help the blood not to return back to the lower extremities work better if there is no stagnation of blood in the veins. And to prevent it, the only effective means is walking.

Wear elastic tights or stockings

They are needed to prevent phlebitis from returning. The stockings make the work of the veins easier and make the pain less severe.

Avoid flying if you have vein pain.

It is very common for a long flight to cause thrombosis (blockage of the leg vessels). It is called commercial class syndrome. Veins become blocked not only because of air pressure, but also because the pressure on them increases. If you have already had to step on board an airplane, wear elastic stockings - this will reduce the load on the veins.

When you are in the air, do not sit in your seat all the time. If possible, give your legs a rest by getting up from your seat and walking around the cabin every 30-40 minutes. If you understand that you are disturbing your neighbors, choose an aisle seat in advance.

What are the signs of infection?

Patients often worry that phlebitis (of any kind) can cause blood clots to break off, clog the lungs, and the person to die. This is rare, but to eliminate the risk of death due to blood clots breaking off, it is important to treat phlebitis at any stage.

Please 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 affected limb, and these symptoms bother for at least a week, you should consult a doctor.

These signs may be a sign that there is an infection lurking in the body. It can be treated with antibiotics and painkillers.