By Hadley Gavin
Your body has a vascular system that is designed to carry blood throughout your body. Blood leaves the heart through arteries and starts its journey to the tissue and organs throughout your body via smaller and smaller blood vessels. Once the tissue is fed, the blood returns in veins. The veins carry the blood back to the heart after a stop at the kidney and livers to clean the blood.
Causes
Your veins contain one-way valves the keeps the blood moving back towards the heart. When these valves do not work properly, the blood backs up in the veins. This “back-up” causes the veins to swell and the blood collects in the swells which cause bulging veins often referred to as varicose veins.
These bulging veins are common in both men and woman but more prevalent in women. Most times, there are no problems associated with the bulging veins, however, if the blood flow slows enough and pools of blood collect, problems such as leg pain, leg swelling, blood clots, and skin changes may be present.
Treatment
There are many surgical and non-surgical options to treat unhealthy veins. There are some things to consider when deciding on the best way to treat your bulging veins: such as recovery time and appearance.
At-Home Treatment
At-home care can improve the symptoms associated with the bulging veins however the problems with addressing unsightly veins at home is that though the pain can be reduced the outward appearance of the veins will remain unchanged. Exercise can increase muscle mass to help the veins return the blood to the heart. Elevating your legs when resting can help blood flow and prevent blood from pooling. Compression stockings provide added pressure in your legs to aid in blood flow. All of these reduce the swelling and many minimize the pain, but the veins will still be visible.
Medical Treatment
Surgery is one of the most common forms of surgery for bulging veins when you want the outward appearance of the veins to be reduced. Surgery can either remove the vein or close off the vein to prevent blood from pooling. The beauty of the surgery, it will not affect the blood supply to the legs because our bodies will redirect the blood to healthier veins. Saphenous vein ablation is when the medical practitioner will remove or close off the vein causing the concern. It is a rather simple procedure that will cause the pain in the legs to subside. Recovery for saphenous vein ablation is relatively trouble-free.
Most of the cases can be treated in a clinic. Legs are bandaged to reduce bruising and aid in the healing process. After 1-2 of bandages, you can then wear stockings for a week. Aim to keep your legs elevated while resting and avoid standing for prolonged periods of time. If the follow-up instructions are followed there are relatively any complications from the recovery for saphenous vein ablation.
With varicose veins being a common condition in many people, there are more and more options for addressing the problem veins. Always talk to your physician about your concerns and any symptoms and/or pain you might be experiencing so you can go into the procedure with knowledge and ability to have a speedy recovery.
