Varicose veins are characterized by an uneven expansion of the lumen of the leg veins, the appearance of nodes on them and an increase in their length. The disease develops gradually, characterized by a chronic course.
Women are three times more likely to have varicose veins than men. And among the representatives of the stronger sex, people who love sports with the maximum load distribution on their legs are prone to this disease: football, tennis, basketball.
Why do varicose veins occur?
There are three types of veins in the tissues of the legs: superficial, deep, superficial, and deep connecting veins. Each vein is a hollow tube through which blood flows from the tissues of the legs to the heart. There are no muscle cells in the walls of the veins, so the vein cannot contract to push the blood upwards. This task is performed by the skeletal muscles of the legs. And the valves are located in the veins - they close their valves at the time of the contraction of the skeletal muscles, thus preventing blood backflow. Every muscle contraction "pushes" the blood higher.
If the valve flaps do not close tightly, some of the blood will flow back, stagnate in the vein, press on the walls and gradually stretch them. The lumen of the vein expands, its wall is stretched. This is the beginning of varicose veins.
Disease-causing factors:
- Heredity - If there is a congenital lack of collagen fibers, the vein wall is less elastic and tends to stretch.
- Blood stagnation in the leg veins with overweight and obesity, wearing shoes with heels more than 3 to 4 centimeters, standing for a long time in one place by people of certain professions - hairdressers and salespeople, cooks, lecturers or with prolonged sitting in the office.
- Changes in hormone levels: The increased levels of progesterone in the blood of a pregnant woman make the walls soft and pliable, so the risk of varicose veins increases dramatically during pregnancy.
The first signs of varicose veins - how to
not missedThe moment when spider veins or spider veins - reticular varicose veins - appear on the skin of the legs is seen as an alarm signal for the onset of varicose veins. This is not a cosmetic defect, but the beginning of the disease!
Simultaneously or after a while, the second group of signs joins - a feeling of heaviness in the legs, which spreads in the legs after long standing or sitting in a chair. When a person begins to walk, the feeling of heaviness decreases: the skeletal muscles push the stagnant blood higher, and the stretching of the vein walls decreases.
The further development of the disease is manifested by edema on the legs - these are marks of socks that, during visual examination, thicken one leg relative to the other.
Later, pain in the calf muscles of the legs, rapid fatigue when walking, the dry skin of the legs and their pigmentation, the emergence of varicose veins and the formation of trophic ulcers combine.
When should I see a vascular surgeon?
When the first spider veins and asterisks appear, you should consult a specialist and, if necessary, perform an ultrasound scan of the veins of the lower extremities and perform varicose vein surgery. The earlier the diagnosis of varicose veins is made, the more likely it is that they will be stopped early.