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Legs are both transportation devices and seduction tools.
Aging, pregnancies and our occidental lifestyle, put an early burden
on our legs. Some little blue and red veins appear under our skin.
They look like spider webs, or parallel lines on the inside of our
knees or anywhere on our thighs. We tend to panic. We no longer wear
skirts or dresses and stay with pants even in the summer. Beach
parties become a problem.
Solutions exist, simple and easy to implement, most of the
time relatively painless.
So, don’t wait !
You should consult for these little veins to get rid of
them and enjoy showing your legs again.
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Frequently asked questions |
What
are varicose veins or spider veins?
Our heart pumps oxygenated blood (red) to our organs
through arteries. Our organs use that oxygen and send back
deoxygenated blood (blue) to the lungs through veins. These veins
carry blood using a simple mechanism: gravity, low pressure and small
valves. These valves prevent the venous blood from falling back toward
the ground. If these leg valves are not closing well, blood is going
to accumulate toward the bottom of our legs, pressure increases and
veins become inflated with stagnating blood. Ultimately, small and
very thin veins in our dermis (spider veins) become charged with blood
and end up showing through the skin. When at some location the walls
of a vein become fragile and expand: it creates a varicosed section of
that vein.
Varicose veins are usually protruding from the surface of
our skin, are purple or blue, have a snake or laces like effect. Most
of the time found on the back of our lower legs going down to the
ankle. During pregnancy, some varicose veins called hemorrhoids
develop in the perinea.
Varicosities are similar to varicose veins but are smaller
and thinner. They don’t protrude from the surface of the skin. They
look like branches of a tree or spider webs. These small and thin
veins usually show up on thighs, legs and face.
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Is it
frequent?
In industrialized nations varicose veins and spider veins
are quite frequent. About 60% of the population with a higher
prevalence in women (50%). After the age of 50, half of the women will
be affected.
What is
the cause?
Not well known. Some risk factors may explain the disease:
Genetic, (born with fragile valves) is the most important one.
- Hormones play a role. Changing hormones during puberty,
pregnancy and menopause as well as hormone replacement therapies (HRT)
and pills could facilitate varicose/spider veins development. During
pregnancy, hormones rise and blood flow increases leading to a
possible weak vein inflation. In general, these varicose veins caused
by a pregnancy, tend to disappear within 3 months although some spider
veins or abnormal veins could remain.
Other risk factors are:
- Aging,
- Obesity,
- Traumas on lower limbs
- Prolongated standing (job related : i.e. nurses)
Some thin red varicose veins could appear on the edge of
the nose, on the cheeks or sideburns of fair skin people who have been
repeatedly exposed to long and violent sun without protection.
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Why do
varicose veins/spider veins show up on legs first?
In a stand up position, our leg veins have a difficult job
of sending blood back to the chest against gravity. Pressure is high.
Fighting on a long distance against gravity is a complicated task with
an active mechanism. Since the specific job of sending that blood back
is purely passive, our body has a couple of tools to do it. First we
have some sort a blood lake in our feet, right where we put the feet
on the ground. This “blood sponge” gets flattened each time our foot
touches the ground, this sends the amount of blood collected there
upward. Then, the more we walk, the more blood flows up. Remember that
we have tiny valves in our veins preventing this packet of blood from
going back down. So our blood goes back up, “step by step”. If some of
our valves are weak and blood flows back through, then we get an
inflated vein somewhere or more blood in a vein network in that area.
It will show inevitably either as a varicose vein, big and blue or as
a spider vein network under the skin.
Are
varicose/spider veins painful?
There is no effective medical treatment for
varicose/spider veins. When these veins inflate they can create a
heavy leg feel, a reduction in mobility. Leg volume can increase, in
conjunction with a warm feel. Although sever pain is rarely described,
cramps may become more frequent. The skin may itch more and in case of
a trauma, scabbing may be difficult sometimes skin ulcers may appear.
In some cases, if varicose veins are severe a medical or surgical
treatment may be offered. In case of obstructed veins, in presence of
a thrombosis and/or infections, an intervention may be the best
strategy. It will lead to the removal of a large section of a leg vein
leaving the peripheral veins do the job. The main danger in case of a
thrombosis is the possibility of seeing a tiny bit of a thrombus
(blood clot) leave off the diseased vein and flow through the system
up to the heart or the lungs which could have very serious
consequences.
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