One of the more common complaints of women, especially those who are working, is the unsightly appearance of a varicose vein. This is often more pronounced with those women who are working in jobs that have requirements for prolonged periods of standing. While to some people, they are merely annoyances, some people who suffer from this condition would actually be frustrated by the pain that it causes. Thus, it has become a common theme for women to find ways on how to eliminate and prevent varicose veins.
What are varicose veins?
People usually just associate the spider like veins in their legs as varicose veins but have really very little idea as to what they are. According to experts, Varicose veins are veins that have become enlarged and twisted, and that they commonly refer to the ones that occur in the leg but can actually occur in other parts of the body as well.
Symptoms would often include a heavy, burning, aching or pain in the legs, Swelling in the feet or ankles, and even itching over the vein. More serious varicose vein conditions can also experience leg welling, calf pain, and even skin changes.
What causes them?
According to Web MD, The varicose vein happen because of the weakened valves and veins in your legs. Usually, one-way valves in the veins keep blood flowing from the legs up towards the heart. When these valves fail, the blood collects in the legs and the pressure builds up. This causes the vein to become weak, large, and twisted.
The usual causes are those things that increase pressures in the legs and leg veins. Thus, being overweight, pregnant, or having a job wherein the person is required to stand for long periods of time can make one susceptible.
Can Stockings eliminate varicose vein?
A usual idea that is bandied about in the offices is that wearing stockings can actually eliminate varicose veins. The truth is somewhat un-reassuring as according to the pacific vein and endovascular centre, headed by Dr. Cheng Shin Chuen, wearing stockings can actually help in preventing the condition, but not in reversing the process.
If not stockings then what?
For some people stockings may not be their desired option as they would want a long term solution. As such they are wondering if there are various vein care treatments that could actually help. There used to be a painful surgical procedure where the entire vein is removed. However, this procedure takes some time for recovery and patients usually take longer to heal and experience a large amount of pain.
Thankfully, Dr. Cheng Shin Chuen, mentions that there are no minimally invasive techniques that one can use to be able to remove varicose veins with minimal drawbacks to the patients.
Modern Varicose Vein treatments:
Dr. Cheng Shin Chuen mentions that there are two varicose veins treatments available that could actually help those who are suffering from the condition. Generally they are Endovenous Ablation therapies, wherein they are minimally invasive procedures where the surgeon passess a small device into the vein.
The tywo types of endovenous therapies that is used by Dr Chen are Clarivein, and the 1470nm Laser Therapy.
Clarivein:
ClariVein is a method of sealing a varicose vein by injecting medications and mechanical agitation of the vein causing it to seal up. The advantages of this treatment is that it cause minimum discomfort to patients, has minimal downtime and the least bruising of all treatment modalities.
Patients who have this treatment can actually resume normal activity on the same day.
1470nm Laser Therapy
On the other hand, Laser therapy uses heat energy generated from the laser fibre to seal the vein. Traditionally a 980nm fibre has been used, but this causes significant bruising. Dr Cheng is one of the first surgeons in the region to use the 1470nm Laser fibre rather than the 980 nm fibre.
This change in fibre size causes less bruising without sacrificing effectiveness.
Of course knowing which treatment to use for your varicose vein condition is something to be determined by the clinic as well as your personal choice. As such, it would be wise to visit the clinic first and try to learn more about the treatments that would help in clearing up your varicose vein problems.