Varicose Veins - Things You Need To Be Aware Of!

Varicose veins usually affect the leg but they can occur elsewhere in the body. It is due to the fact that standing and walking upright elevates the pressure in the veins of the lower body parts. Leg muscles work against the gravity to pump the veins to return the blood back to the heart. A pair of leaflet valves is present in the veins to prevent backflow of the blood. But in case of varicose veins, the leaflets of the valves do not function properly. It results in the backflow of the blood and the veins become enlarged.

There is an increased chance of getting the varicose veins if someone in your family had varicose veins. Other possible risk factors which may give rise to varicose veins include age, hormonal changes in females, and obesity.

You should often change the sitting position to prevent the occurrence of varicose veins. Other measures that can control the symptoms of varicose veins to some extent include avoiding standing for long period of time, keeping the legs in elevated position, keeping a check on your weight, avoiding tight hosiery and high heels, and wearing graduated compression stockings.

Cryosurgery is one of the variants of vein stripping. It is a surgical procedure which is performed with the help of a probe. The vein is partially or totally removed by stripping after freezing it with the help of a cryoprobe. In sclerotherapy, sclerosant, a type of medicine, is injected into the varicose veins to shrink them. Endovenous thermal ablation treatment involves heating up the varicose veins, which leads to the thrombotic occlusion and eventually fibrosis of the vein wall.