How to Fix Varicose Vein-Related Skin Changes in a Few Simple Steps

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When the legs are naturally tattooed by your veins, it's a matter of concern. Rightly so, varicose veins affect skin health as much as they disturb the body’s blood flow. Essentially, they are the veins located right underneath the skin that gets engorged with blood, turn dark red, are bulgy, twisted, and eventually start showing through the skin.

They can happen anywhere in the body but are mostly seen in the legs—this is due to the increased stress in the veins of the leg muscles caused by standing and walking. These web-like ragged, reddish-blue veins spread across your thighs and calves, making them very unesthetic and ugly. Fear not; modern medicine has cures to treat varicose veins and get your skin back in shape.

Why do Varicose Veins Affect The Skin?

Veins transport blood from your legs to your heart. It takes a lot of effort for them to push blood uphill. This antigravity action is aided by tiny valves found within veins. Varicose veins severely damage these valves, stopping blood flow.

The accumulated blood damages the vein walls, and blood fluids start leaking into the surrounding tissues. This stops the nutrient and oxygen supply to the nearby skin. As the skin loses oxygen, it becomes itchy, dry, discolored, and flaky in appearance.

Skin Issues Caused by Varicose Veins:

All skin changes in varicose veins have a pattern. One issue snowballs into another. Prolonged pressure on the veins of the legs causes varicose veins. Due to this, the tiny valves that allow blood to flow against gravity from the leg to the heart are damaged.

Blood builds up around the varicose veins, weakening them and stretching the vein walls to their limit. Fluids from the blood seeping through the walls and into the surrounding tissues cause discoloration of the skin.

With time, the stagnated blood flow reduces the amount of nutrients and oxygen delivered to the skin, causing it to become dry, itchy, and flaky. The darkly pigmented skin gets thicker, more fibrotic, and eventually forms a crust as the condition gets worse. Varicose vein-related eczema and ulcers are some of the complications that arise with crusting.

When Should You Worry About Varicose Veins?

All signs of crusting, bleeding, prolonged episodes of pain, and difficulty in walking should be immediately reported to a varicose vein specialist to prevent future complications.

Treatment of Varicose Vein-Related Skin Changes

Modern medicine has many solutions to reverse skin changes that come with varicose veins. We'll go over some home-care tips and tricks, as well as what the varicose vein specialist has to offer.

Quick tips and tricks for avoiding skin complications:

1. Be on the lookout for early symptoms of varicose veins.

2. See a doctor as soon as possible.

3. To relieve and treat your skin rash, you must begin by caring for your entire skin, not just the affected areas.

1. To begin with—self-care:

The varicose vein specialist will advise you on improving the blood flow to your legs.

Some of the methods include

• Workout, workout, and workout!

• Raise your legs. Keep your legs on a stack of pillows when in bed. Practice yoga asanas that involve leg lifts.

• Do not sit around for too. Take short walking breaks.

• Do not stand for too long. 30 minutes of rest and sitting down are mandatory.

• Do not soak in hot tubs and saunas for too long.

1. Compression socks

These stockings provide consistent pressure on the varicose veins to reduce swelling and blood clots. They do not esthetically treat the condition

1. Sclerotherapy

The treatment takes about 4 sessions and cures varicose veins permanently in about 3 to 4 months. A chemical injected into multiple areas of the veins collapses the vein walls. The vein will thus get blocked for blood flow, eventually disappearing.

1. Laser treatments

This is a high-energy light beam that destroys the affected vein without harming the overlying skin. It is painless and also requires multiple sessions.

1. Radiofrequency (RFA) ablation and endovenous laser therapy (EVLT)

It is a short procedure where a laser tube or a tube producing radiofrequency is inserted into the varicose vein, causing it to collapse and seal. Recovery is slightly longer but much quicker than surgically removing veins.

Takeaway

Varicose veins can be unsightly and have an impact on social interactions and mental health. It can become even worse through neglect and ignorance, posing a serious risk to life. Together, the patient and the doctor can successfully treat varicose veins. Without further delay, start your varicose vein care at home and avoid unnecessary complications.