What are varicose veins
Varicose veins are twisted, enlarged veins generally occurring in the legs and feet. They affect up to 30 per cent of the Australian population and often appear blue or dark purple in colour. They develop due to damaged vein valves which are no longer able to sufficiently circulate blood back up to the heart.
Some people experience no symptoms at all, whilst others may experience all or some of the below.
- Pain, itching or heaviness in the legs.
- Burning, throbbing or muscle cramping.
- Pain that intensified after prolonged sitting or standing.
- Chronic swelling in the lower legs or ankles.
In general, vein pain is considered vague and dull rather than sharp or immediate. If you raise your legs and the pain goes away, this is an indication your pain is vein-related.
While in many cases, varicose veins are purely cosmetic, they can point to more serious issues that can have a long-term effect on your health.
At the very least, they can often leave your legs looking worse for wear and have you reaching for trousers or a full dress, even in the summertime.
How do you fix varicose veins?
Thankfully, varicose veins can be managed and treated relatively easily. There are three main ways to deal with varicose veins, depending on your legs.
Prevention
Prevention is the best cure! While you can’t 100 per cent prevent varicose veins from occurring, taking the right steps will minimise the odds and give your body the best chance to avoid them.
Here are a few great ways to reduce the risk of varicose veins forming in the first place.
- Regular exercise: This helps to keep blood flowing, get the muscles pumping to the veins and ease the load on your legs. Walk at least 20 minutes a day to see a great benefit.
- Diet: Cutting down on saturated and trans fats and sugars helps to lower the strain on your veins while eating more plant-based foods like berries, seeds, leafy greens, asparagus, broccoli, and other vegetables helps to boost your circulation.
- Weight: Maintaining a healthy weight (within 10kgs of ideal BMI) is a great way to take the strain off your veins and improve circulation.
If you’re female, over 60 or have a family history of vein issues, you’re at much higher risk, so it’s extra important to lower the risk.
Compression
Medical-grade compression stockings are clinically proven to reduce the risk of varicose veins, boost circulation, and minimise swelling and leg pain.
Wearing these compression stockings, especially during extended periods, being seated (office work, long travel trips) or standing (retail, hospitality, chefs), helps lower the risk of varicose veins. It's also one of the key ways to keep existing varicose veins under control.
VenoTrain Cocoon Compression Stockings
Medical intervention
If you already have varicose veins, it’s important to still practice steps of prevention to stop it from getting worse, as well as minimise the chance of another vein turning varicose.
However, medical treatment and removal of the varicose vein can help to restore the physical appearance of the legs, as well as reduce the likelihood of something more serious occurring. Generally, your options include:
- Endovenous Laser Ablation: your clinician will make a tiny 1mm incision and feed a thin laser fibre into the vein. Once inside, they'll turn on the heat. ablating and sealing the vein shut for your body to absorb.
- Radiofrequency Ablation: this treatment is very similar to laser ablation, except instead of laser heat, it uses radiofrequency bursts to seal the vein. Both are gold-standard treatments with a very low risk of complications and a high (~98%) success rate.
- Sclerotherapy: it involves injecting sclerosant into the problem vein to irritate it and seal it shut.
- ClariVein: it also uses sclerosant - but instead of syringe injections, your clinician will use the ClariVein Catheter. This is a special device with a 360-degree rotating tip that can deliver sclerosant deeper into the problem vein.
- Medical Superglue: as with sclerotherapy, your clinician will inject a substance into the vein. Unlike with sclerotherapy, the substance here is medical glue - a special adhesive that will make the vein walls stick together, cutting blood flow off.
- Ambulatory or Transilluminated Phlebectomy: unlike the above, these are surgical procedures. Your surgeon will make a series of small incisions along the vein route and remove the vein piece by piece.
Speak to your GP or a vein specialist to explore your options.
To sum up
Varicose veins are an extremely common condition. Fortunately, there is a lot you can do to minimise your risk of developing them. And if you do end up getting them, there are plenty of treatment options available outside of surgery.
