How to remove leg veins without surgery if they are enlarged by varicose veins? Many people want to get rid of ugly dilated veins on the legs, which are not only ugly, but dangerous to health. But can you do without surgery or is there no other way?
How does the disease develop?
Is it possible to cure varicose veins without surgery? To answer this question, it is necessary to consider what happens to the vein during the development of the disease.
The disease develops in several stages:
- venous valves weaken, cease to interfere with reverse blood flow;
- valve insufficiency gradually increases and the vessel begins to stretch to accommodate a large amount of returned fluid;
- as the venous wall stretches, more and more blood is retained in the deformed part of the vessel and congestion occurs which worsens the speed of blood flow;
- in the future, the process spreads to nearby parts of the vessel and causes malnutrition of nearby tissues.
But is vein removal always necessary? Are there ways to get rid of varicose veins without surgery?
When is conservative treatment possible?
In the early stages of the development of the disease, the operation to remove the vein in the legs is not performed; to restore the full functioning of the venous valve, it is enough to restore the tone of the vessel.
But conservative therapy should be comprehensive and include:
- change the patient's lifestyle;
- power correction;
- compression effect;
- taking medications.
Lifestyle change
Insufficient physical activity or, conversely, excessive physical exertion, insufficient rest and bad habits - all this provokes a violation of blood circulation in the leg.
Lifestyle changes help restore vascular tone. To do this you need:
- Provide a dosed physical activity. Hiking, swimming, yoga, or fitness without strength exercises are great ways to increase vascular tone and narrow the venous lumen. And if the clearance decreases, the valve will adhere completely to the vessel wall, preventing filling. In the very early stages of development, sports exercises are one of the main methods of curing varicose veins without surgery.
- Organize a work and rest schedule. If it is not possible to avoid standing for a long time while working on the legs, during rest it is necessary to sit with the legs slightly upwards and during work do not stand still, but step over the legs, causing a contraction of the calf muscles. Regular muscle contraction will increase vascular tone.
- Quit smoking and only drink small amounts of alcohol. If the sick person continues to smoke and drink, they will soon have to undergo surgery for phlebectomy.
Dietary correction
When varicose veins are treated without surgery, what a person eats plays an important role.
Exclude from menu:
- spicy spices;
- fatty and fried foods;
- carbonated drinks;
- baked goods.
You have to limit the amount of candy. It is better to replace sweets or cakes with homemade jam, honey and dried fruit.
The menu must include a large amount of seafood:
- squid;
- mussels;
- seaweed;
- shrimp.
Fish contains copper, which has a tonic effect on the venous tone.
In addition to the above products, it is recommended to eat more plant foods and drink natural juices and fruit drinks. Eating liver and lean meats is allowed.
Compression action
It involves bandaging and wearing elastic underwear (stockings, leggings). Elastic underwear is worn lying down without getting out of bed in the morning and removed in the evening before going to bed, the same goes for the bandage. Compression therapy helps prevent further lengthening of the venous wall and reduces the negative consequences of the disease.
It is also recommended to wear compression underwear in the postoperative period, this will help to make the rehabilitation shorter and ensure the rapid restoration of the complete blood supply to the limb.
But compression therapy does not serve as an independent method of avoiding surgery to remove veins in the legs. It only helps to prevent the negative consequences associated with impaired development of venous blood flow.
Medication
Patients are prescribed drugs to increase venous tone.
Venotonics can be prescribed in tablets, ointments or injections, but their dosage is selected individually, depending on the severity of the pathology.
In addition, symptomatic treatment is performed. For example, with a tendency to thrombosis, blood thinners are prescribed, and with phlebitis - anti-inflammatory drugs.
But all the treatment should be complete. If a patient ponders how to remove the veins in the legs without surgery, but at the same time does not stop smoking and eating spicy foods, he will be disappointed - this is impossible. Without changing lifestyle and diet, she will soon need leg vein surgery.
If you can't do without surgery
If conservative therapy was unsuccessful and the patient has frequent pain and often leg cramps, trophic ulcers or phlebitis develop, an operation should be performed to reduce the consequences of the disease.
But vein surgery can also be performed using minimally invasive treatment methods:
- laser correction:
- sclerosing effect;
- laser ablation;
- radiofrequency ablation;
- ligature;
- minor phlebectomy.
Laser correction
It is performed in the initial stage of the disease, when only the small vessels are deformed and spider veins appear on the skin. Percutaneous exposure to a laser pulse contributes to the collapse of the walls of small garlands and the closure of the lumen. But only the initial stages of the disease can be cured with laser correction. For this, several sessions are enough. Rehabilitation after laser surgery is not necessary.
Sclerosing effect
A sclerosing agent, a special solution that causes a loss of elasticity of the vascular wall, is injected into the lumen of a subject deformed and unable to perform its function. This method can be used for both large and small pots. But with a large venous lesion, although blood circulation in the limbs will improve, the cosmetic defect can persist.
Laser ablation
A sterile catheter is inserted into the dilated section of the vein and an electrode is inserted through it. The action of the laser is performed on the internal surface of the vessel, causing the collapse of its walls and the complete closure of the lumen. Blood flow begins to occur through the smaller vessels, and the vein exposed to the laser radiation gradually becomes thinner and disappears.
The postoperative period with such an intervention can last up to a day, but the complete elimination of cosmetic defects will occur only after a few months.
Radiofrequency ablation
The method is similar to the laser method, but uses radiofrequency radiation. Radiofrequency ablation is performed on large blood vessels and the approximate length of radiation exposure: from the groin to the knee or from the knee to the foot. The therapeutic effect is obtained in 2-3 sessions, but the complete disappearance of the deformed vein will occur in a few weeks.
Ligature
The imposition of a ligation (dressing) on both sides on the site of the large vessel allows it to be shut off from the bloodstream system, which will begin to bypass the smaller veins. The overlap points of the ligature fall and grow firmly together. Ligation is performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia: small incisions are made in the skin and venous ligation is performed. Ligation is considered a good method of getting rid of varicose veins when there are already negative consequences associated with impaired blood flow. "Shutting off" the pathologically deformed venous site from the circulation helps reduce pain and edema.
Minor phlebectomy
This operation is also performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. The difference from ligation is that after ligation, the altered venous areas are excised and removed through small incisions in the skin. Compared to surgical phlebectomy (in which the vein is removed completely), such a mini-operation is considered less traumatic and requires almost no rehabilitation.
Although minimally invasive treatment methods are considered surgical intervention due to the mechanical effect on the vessels, after surgery on the leg veins using the above methods, the negative consequences of the intervention for the patient are minimal andrehabilitation after the operation takes place in a short time.
It is possible to remove varicose enlargements on the legs without surgery, but the success of treatment depends not only on the chosen method, but also on how ready the patient is to follow the medical recommendations.