Dealing with Varicose Veins

Varicose veins due the loosing of the walls of the legs for the most part occur in males and females and are especially prevalent in people who have to stay long hours standing up. There are also plenty of cases when a woman notices the onset of the ailment especially during fetal development.

Personally I believe there is a genetic predisposition to the enlarging of veins in the legs and I remember both my aunt and uncle had enlarged veins in their legs that became more prevalent as they aged. My aunt used to work long hours on her feet at a bakery and my uncle kept long hours as an optometrist. He was overweight though and the extra weight might have also caused stress on the vein walls causing them to enlarge. The location of the varicose vein may be either internal or external, the internal one lying under a muscle mass and is difficult to spot by external analysis. The superficial vein is easy to see after a general examination.

There are then a number of causes for varicose veins to occur especially when the tonality of the vein is compromised because of lack of activity and the normal muscle around the lower leg no longer has the capacity to maintain the same blood return to the heart it did before the veins expanded. Lack of physical exercise involving long hours of sitting may also induce hemorrhoids or an expansion of the vessels that supply the anal orifice. A hemorrhoid is analogous to what a varicose vein would be on a leg.

A person afflicted with these veins will experience tiredness of the legs probably due to the accumulation of lactic acid in the blood in that region. He may also experience pain. The way to deal with the problem is by elevating the feet above the level of the body so as to facilitate the blood return to the heart. This is however a short term solution. Many people opt for special elastic socks that would maintain a certain pressure on the legs ensuring a blood return to the heart. This due is short term because the venal walls have lost their ability to contract sufficiently and maintain a normal blood return to the heart. Others opt for the removal of the afflicted vein or veins. This can be done especially if there is another blood supply to the region supplied by the vein but is not advised when the circulation to the region is already compromised.

When the blood flow is restricted there may be in severe cases a clotting of the blood causing thrombosis. This is especially dangerous in older people who have had previous heart trouble.

If the thrombus or the blood clot detaches itself from the vein wall, that may travel to the heart and blood the circulation, resulting in a heart attack. It is believed by naturalists that the extract of grapefuit seeds, which contains a natural, decoagulant will reduce the clots that occur.

There may be other superficial signs of severe varicose veins and that would be the existence of sores on the leg due to the lack of proper nourishment to the tissue around the vein.