4 Easy Ways To Relieve Painful Varicose Veins
Posted: Thursday, November 21, 2013 | Revised: December 3, 2013
Are you part of the one in four adult Americans who suffers from Varicose Veins – those blue bulging-like veins on the surface of your legs? One of the biggest misconceptions is that varicose veins is simply a cosmetic issue – it isn’t! As you’re reading this blog post you probably already know that!
Perhaps you suffer from tired, achy legs at the end of the day, leg swelling or you simply have painful varicose veins. If these symptoms describe your legs in any way its essential that you visit a Vein Doctor (Vein Care Specialist) as soon as possible.
In the mean time here are 4 quick and easy things you can do to relieve your leg pain:
1. Move! Walking is one of the best exercises you can do to help blood circulate through your legs. It helps improve the flow of blood through the arteries as well as increases the efficiency of flow out of your legs through your veins. Set a 15 minute timer to get up and stretch if you spend time sitting at a desk. If you’re watching TV skip the ad breaks and do a quick walking circuit around your house. If you’re cooking dinner lift your toes to move your calf muscles while you’re standing.
2. Get Them Up! Elevating your legs above the level of your chest allows gravity to do the work of returning the blood to your heart. Doing this will help reduce your swelling and you’ll get some welcome relief from that “heaviness feeling”.
3. Avoid Tight Clothing – Especially Tight Pants, Boots Or Socks While clothing like “skinny jeans” might be all the rage, they’re better left to the teenagers in your house. Wearing tight clothing makes it very difficult for your blood from your leg to return to your heart, so its more likely to increase any swelling or leg ache you might be experiencing. Wearing knee high socks with tight elastic, or even snug fitting knee high boots does the same. The only kind of tight socks you should be wearing (especially when you travel) are properly fitted compression stockings which increases the flow of blood around your legs (rather than decreasing it.) And that brings us to our final tip which is..
• Wear compression stockings. You might be relieved to know that compression stocks have come a long way from the rather unsightly knee, high kind worn by granny! This vein treatment provides some support to the veins from the surface, preventing them from becoming as swollen. Graduated compression stockings are specially designed to be tightest at the ankle and slightly looser up the leg to promote the flow of blood the right direction through your leg veins. Compression stockings should be worn by both men and women who suffer from painful varicose veins (they can easily be hidden under trousers and we also offer our patients “compression leggings” which look practically identical to regular leggings, except of course they provide much more support.)
Have you got a question for Dr Jones about your varicose veins? If so we’d love to hear from you. Please send her your question by emailing our office info@MichiganVeinCare.com