Varicose veins: symptoms

Does varicose veins depend on age?

Some people have legs that remain free of venous nodes until old age, while others suffer from the manifestations of this disease from the age of thirty. Why does this happen?

Why do some people not know what varicose veins are until old age, while others have blue veins on their legs already visible at the age of thirty? There are several reasons, and age is not at the top of this hierarchy.

[ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ], [ 4 ], [ 5 ]

Excess weight and varicose veins

One of the first and most important reasons for the development of varicose veins is excess weight. If a person's body weighs many kilograms, much more than it should, the legs bear an increased load. The circulatory system suffers first, because the veins and arteries provide all this large structure of the body. When a person has excess weight, the veins are squeezed by it, like a press. The same process occurs during pregnancy.

When veins are compressed, blood flow in them is disrupted, and blood clots can form, the walls of the veins are destroyed, and this is where the processes that lead to varicose veins occur. Bulte is sure: women suffer from varicose veins 4 times more often than men because of their ability to get pregnant. Therefore, they need to take special care of their veins.

[ 6 ]

Lifestyle and varicose veins

If a person does not give their legs a rest, if their legs are constantly in motion or, on the contrary, immobilized, varicose veins can very easily affect such a person. Surgeons, athletes, teachers, hairdressers are at particular risk. They spend a lot of time on their feet, which is why their venous system suffers.

Varicose veins and other diseases

Varicose veins can be caused by diseases that seem to be completely unrelated to the legs. These can be heart diseases, which are so weak that they cannot pump enough blood. These can be kidneys with their renal failure, which cannot process all the fluid entering the body. These can be hormones, of which the body produces too much or, conversely, too little, and their ratios violate the norm.

It has been scientifically proven that the walls of venous vessels can be weakened due to hormonal storms, as well as hormonal changes in the period before menstruation, pregnancy, puberty, and menopause.

Varicose veins and heredity

If someone in a person's family suffered from varicose veins (mother, grandmother, aunt), then he needs to be especially careful with the load on his legs and carry out prevention of this serious disease. It is best to see a doctor for examination and undergo a course of treatment for varicose veins in the initial stages, than to fight this disease for a long time and persistently when it has firmly grabbed you in its clutches.

Symptoms of varicose veins

Varicose veins do not immediately manifest as thick veins-ropes on the legs and severe pain in the limbs. It attacks the body gradually, gradually. At risk are people who put the greatest strain on their legs: ballerinas, hairdressers, teachers. The fact that varicose veins gradually begin to occupy the body is first manifested by the appearance of the nails. Yes, yes, it is the nails that you should always pay attention to in order to understand whether you have the initial stage of varicose veins. Nails can begin to break, peel, or - the opposite situation - they are too thick and rough.

After the nails, the veins signal poor blood flow. On the legs, they begin to show through the skin. At first, these veins are small, almost unnoticeable. The first signs are noticeable blue veins in the popliteal fossa. Then spider veins appear on the legs - these are more serious manifestations of varicose veins.

Keep in mind that in thin people, veins and, accordingly, the initial stage of varicose veins appear more noticeably and earlier than in overweight people, whose veins are hidden by subcutaneous fat. You need to pay attention to the condition of the veins and be sure to consult a therapist or phlebologist - a doctor who deals with diseases of the veins and blood. Do not think that veins on the legs that have acquired a darker shade are simply unsightly. No, it is also dangerous.

How to recognize the symptoms of varicose veins?

In order not to make a mistake, it is better to go to a specialist. But you can also recognize the signs of varicose veins yourself. How to do this? There are old proven methods, one might say, classic ones. These are varicose vein tests, according to them you can determine how far the disease has gone in its manifestations.

Gackenbruch's test

You need to stand on a flat floor. Then bend slightly and put your fingers on the part of your leg where varicose veins are visible. Three fingers should be on the nodes of these veins. Cough slightly. If your fingers feel a jolt of blood, then the venous valve is not working, its functions are impaired. This valve is located in the place where the superficial vein passes into another - deep one.

Sheinis' three-strand test

Lie down before you begin these tests. Five minutes of lying on a hard surface with your legs above your heart will help you prepare for this exercise. Then massage your foot and ankle from the foot toward the groin. With this movement, the veins should become free of blood flow. That is, empty. Now prepare and apply three tourniquets. One should be applied to the thigh - its upper third.

Another tourniquet should be applied to the middle of the thigh, and the third tourniquet is applied to the area just below the knee. Now stand up quickly. If the veins in one of the areas where the tourniquets were applied are swollen and this is clearly visible, then the valve system is not working there.

Delbe-Portes test

You can use it to determine how good the patency of the deep veins is. Stand up straight and apply a tourniquet to one of your thighs. Walk with this tourniquet for a short time - 10 seconds. If the varicose nodes have relaxed during this time, have ceased to be tense, then the deep veins have good patency. If not, then the patency of the deep veins is impaired.

Marching test

This test also shows the patency of the deep veins. Walk a little - 2-3 minutes, so that the veins fill with blood. Then apply a tourniquet to the thigh. This should be done so that only the veins close to the surface of the skin are compressed. That is, the compression should not be deep, the leg should not change its color to pale or, conversely, reddish. It should remain a natural shade.

Walk around with this tourniquet for about five minutes. If the subcutaneous veins are hidden, it means that the deep veins have good patency. If the subcutaneous veins remain close to the surface, it means that the deep veins do not pass blood well.

There are signs of varicose veins. This may mean that the communicating veins no longer perform their functions, their tissue is deformed.

Please note that these tests can only give an approximate result. To determine exactly what is wrong with you and whether you have varicose veins, it is better to consult a phlebologist or therapist. The doctor will conduct an examination using special instruments and make an accurate diagnosis.

[ 7 ], [ 8 ], [ 9 ]

Stages of varicose veins development

Soon varicose veins gain momentum: veins begin to swell, become heterogeneous. Nodes appear on them. They can already be felt with fingers. There is no blood stagnation in them yet, but if you do not pay attention to thrombophlebitis, this stage is not far off. In the meantime, the thrombophlebitis stage, when the blood flow is not yet impaired, and the veins are already clearly visible, is called a state of cosmetic disorders.

And then it gets worse. Varicose veins progress, and a person develops accompanying symptoms: he becomes more irritable, gets tired faster, his legs feel like two blocks, it is hard to walk on them, his legs get tired quickly. A person begins to complain of poor memory, even worse health, tosses and turns in bed in the evening, cannot fall asleep. Of course: varicose veins do not sleep. This is the stage of oxygen starvation of the veins, due to which the legs quickly swell, and this swelling is clearly visible. Check yourself: if a mark from the elastic of a sock or stocking remains on your leg, then you have swelling, which may indicate varicose veins.

This stage (the second stage of varicose veins) is also characterized by cramps that are felt in the calf muscles. Sometimes at night a person can wake up because he does not feel his own shin. There is a feeling as if the person has sat on this part of the body. This means that oxygen starvation is already very strong. You need to see a doctor immediately.

The next stage of varicose veins is changes on the inner part of the shin. Brown spots appear on them, which are clearly visible. Dermatitis with rashes and itching over the entire surface of the skin may appear on the skin. Edemas already bother a person more often, they can occur in any part of the leg. The heaviness in the legs worsens - they feel as if they were filled with heavy metal.

A person begins to get tired even faster, even if he did not do anything special. Weakness, poor sleep, depressive states - these are all manifestations of blood stagnation in the veins. And not your bad mood. These conditions need to be treated, otherwise the fourth stage of varicose veins sets in - the worst and with the greatest complications. Among these complications are thrombophlebitis, trophic ulcers on the legs, which are practically not treated, bleeding due to rupture of varicose nodes, insufficient blood flow in the veins, which is chronic. That's how much trouble varicose veins can cause.