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Can I Prevent Varicose Veins?

posted by Dr. Brent Apr 17, 2009 5:52 am
Can I Prevent Varicose Veins?
9 comments

Q: I’ve noticed that varicose veins run in my family and am scared that I’ll end up with them as well. What causes this and is there anything I can do to prevent them?

A: Many women ask me this question, including my own grandmother.

Here’s a simple anatomy lesson:

Inside each vein there’s a one-way valve that opens to let blood flow through and then shuts to keep blood from flowing backward. If the valves are weak or damaged, blood can back up and pool in your veins causing the veins to swell. This weakens the walls of the vein. When the walls of the veins are weak, they lose their normal elasticity. This makes the walls of the veins longer and wider and causes the flaps of the valves to separate.

When the valve flaps separate, blood can flow backward through the valves. The back flow of blood fills the veins and stretches the walls even more. As a result, the veins get bigger, swell, and often get twisted as they try to squeeze into their normal space. This is what causes the spidery appearance of the veins on your legs.

You may be at higher risk for weak vein walls due to increasing age or a family history of varicose veins. You also may be at higher risk if you have increased pressure in your veins due to excess weight.

Trying to not spend hours on end standing on your feet without moving around (which allows the blood flow in the legs to slow and pool) may help.  You might also consider wearing pressure support stockings which can help prevent the pooling of blood in the veins.

Dr. Brent Ridge is the health expert for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. You can call and ask him a question live every Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern on Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 112 (1.866.675.6675). You can also follow along as he learns to grow his own food and raise goats on his farm in upstate New York by visiting www.beekman1802.com.

More on Ask Dr. Brent (122 articles available)
More from Dr. Brent (127 articles available)

9 comments

9 comments

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9 comments add your comment
Vural K.

thanks...you...
Kabin
Konteyner

Andrew Fletcher

We are seeking more people with varicose veins who are willing to put I.T to the test and feel that this is something that your readers and colleagues will definitely find fascinating and some who have varicose veins and oedema and wish to avoid surgery may want to Help in this important trial and join our Free study which has already produced positive results in only 4 weeks as predicted!
News Release:
An Important Scientific Study into the cause of Varicose Veins and Oedema and Inclined Therapy I.T is now underway, which makes use of the way the body uses gravity to move solutes through the vessels to improve circulation and alter the pressure inside the veins to significantly reduce swelling and oedema. Our study is free for anyone to participate in. There are no products to be sold or marketed.
What is Inclined Therapy?
Gravity was identified as the driving force behind circulation in trees in 1994 and was applied immediately to how circulation in the body benefits from the same interaction with salts and sugars in the circulation. A video showing the use of IBT with spinal cord injury can be viewed here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3D7tBQfCxQ
I.T. is simply tilting the bed so that the head end is 15 cm’s or 6 inches higher than the foot end providing a level but tilted bed, hence the name Inclined Therapy.
People with varicose veins, oedema (fluid retention) are needed to participate in an online Diary Study, in order to prove that simply altering our slee

Andrew Fletcher

Andrew K. Fletcher
Paignton, Devon U.K.
+44 1803524117
Inclined Bed Therapy (IBT) Varicose Veins Study.
Inclined To Sleep Inclined Yet?
Dear Reader
We are seeking more people with varicose veins who are willing to put IBT to the test and feel that this is something that your readers and colleagues will definitely find fascinating and some who have varicose veins and oedema and wish to avoid surgery may want to Help in this important trial and join our Free study which has already produced positive results in only 4 weeks as predicted!
News Release:
An Important Scientific Study into the cause of Varicose Veins and Oedema and Inclined Bed Therapy (I.B.T.) is now underway, which makes use of the way the body uses gravity to move solutes through the vessels to improve circulation and alter the pressure inside the veins to significantly reduce swelling and oedema. Our study is free for anyone to participate in. There are no products to be sold or marketed.
What is Inclined Bed Therapy?
Gravity was identified as the driving force behind circulation in trees in 1994 and was applied immediately to how circulation in the body benefits from the same interaction with salts and sugars in the circulation. A video showing the use of IBT with spinal cord injury can be viewed here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3D7tBQfCxQ
IBT is simply tilting the bed so that the head end is 15 cm’s or 6 inches higher than the foot end providing a level but tilted bed, hence the name

Ginna Dorkin

Thanks for sharing the information. I think a change in diet may also improve varicose veins. I was suggested to increase vitamin supplements like E and C while I consulted Varicose Veins Omaha Nebraska for solution.

Brenda Y.

Sorry, I meant to say pooling, not polling. LOL. any ways I think you get the idea.

Brenda Y.

I didn't get the chance to prevent mine. I was born with a mass amount, starting from my baby toe, all the way to my upper buttocks area. No one new what, or why I had it. I even had a biopsy when I was about 12. I know they told me as I got older not to get a stand up job but now they say it is better to stand and move around, that a sit down job would be worst. A good support hose worked the best. A support stocking made the swelling move, not go away. Propping your leg above heart level, for 20 or so minutes, helps with the blood polling and circulation. It helps with the swelling a bit too. I know if you do laser surgery for the surface veins they can grow back. Other wise I have to just deal with the pins and needle and achey pain and swelling.

Amalthea Lalaith

:( I suffer from these as well and I am only 21! I used to be overweight, but I am not anymore. I eat healthy and exercise. I feel like I shouldn't have them, but I guess you can't fight genetics too much. I have family history of poor blood circulation.

Lianne Lavoie

I read somewhere that doing shoulder stand (a yoga pose where you're on your back and your legs are up in the air) for a few minutes each day can help. Also, whenever possible, have your legs above your heart when you're sitting down. That helps blood move upwards through your legs.

Sheila Scheibl

Is that really all you can do for prevention? I'm no expert, but there has to be something... could circulation by chance be involved? If it is, why not a honey pat (found here on care2!)? Maybe I should read up a bit and comment further later...

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