How can leg veins be removed without surgery if they become enlarged with a varicose vein? Many people want to get rid of badly dilated leg veins, which are not only ugly but also dangerous to health. But can it be done 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, one must consider what happens to the vein during the development of the disease.
The pathology develops in several stages:
- venous valves are weakened, do not interfere with reverse blood flow; The failure of the
- valve gradually increases and the vessel begins to stretch to accommodate large amounts of return fluid;
- as the venous wall stretches, more and more blood is retained in the deformed part of the vessel and congestion occurs, which impairs blood flow rate;
- In the future, the process will spread to nearby parts of the vessel and cause malnutrition in nearby tissues.
But is it always necessary to remove veins? Is there a way to get rid of varicose veins without surgery?
When is conservative treatment possible?
In the early stages of the disease, the operation to remove the leg vein is not performed; to restore full function of the venous valve, it is sufficient to restore the sound of the vessel.
However, conservative therapy should be comprehensive and include:
- changing the patient's lifestyle;
- performance correction;
- compression effect;
- medication intake.
Lifestyle change
Insufficient physical activity, or vice versa, excessive physical exertion, insufficient rest, and bad habits: all of this causes damage to the blood circulation in the legs.
Lifestyle changes help restore vascular tone. This requires:
- Provide dosed physical activity. Hiking, swimming, yoga or fitness without fitness are great ways to increase vascular tone and narrow venous lumen. And if the gap is reduced, the valve will fully adhere to the vessel wall, preventing refilling. In the very early stages of development, sports exercises are one of the main ways to cure varicose veins without surgery.
- Organize your work and rest schedule. If you can’t avoid staying on your legs for long periods of time, you should sit up slightly while resting and not stand still while working, but step over your legs, causing the calf muscles to contract. Regular muscle contraction increases vascular tone.
- Stop smoking and drink only small amounts of alcohol. If the patient continues to smoke and drink, he or she will soon have surgery for phlebectomy.
Diet correction
When the varicose veins can be treated without surgery, what a person eats plays an important role.
Exclude from menu:
- hot spices;
- fatty and fried foods;
- carbonated beverages;
- bakery products.
You need to limit the amount of sweets. It is better to replace sweets or cakes with homemade jam, honey and dried fruits.
The menu should include a large amount of seafood:
- squid;
- mussels;
- seaweed;
- Shrimp.
contains copper, which has a tonic effect on venous tone.
In addition to the above products, it is recommended to consume more plant foods as well as drink natural juices and fruit drinks. Liver and lean meat should be eaten.
Compression operation
This is tying and wearing elastic underwear (stockings, pants). Elastic underwear is worn lying down without getting up in the morning and taken off at bedtime in the evening, the same goes for tying. Compression therapy helps prevent further elongation of the venous wall and reduce the negative consequences of the disease.
It is also recommended to wear compression underwear in the postoperative period, this will help shorten the rehabilitation and ensure a quick restoration of the entire blood supply to the limb.
But compression therapy does not serve as a stand-alone method to avoid surgery to remove the veins in the foot. It only helps prevent the negative consequences of impaired venous blood flow.
Medication
Patients are prescribed medications 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 provided. For example, blood thinners are prescribed for predisposition to thrombosis, and anti-inflammatory drugs for phlebitis.
But all treatments should be comprehensive. If a patient thinks about how to remove the veins in their legs without surgery, but at the same time doesn’t stop smoking and spicy foods, they will be disappointed - it’s impossible. You will soon need leg vein surgery without changing your lifestyle and diet.
If you can't do it without surgery
If conservative therapy has failed and the patient often has pain and cramps, trophic ulcers, or frequent phlebitis, surgery should be performed to reduce the consequences of the disease.
But venous surgery can be performed with minimally invasive treatment methods:
- Laser correction:
- sclerosing effect;
- laser ablation;
- radiofrequency ablation;
- ligation;
- minor phlebectomy.
Laser correction
It is performed in the early stages of the disease, when only small blood vessels are deformed and spider veins appear on the skin. Percutaneous exposure of the laser pulse contributes to the collapse of the walls of small wreaths and the closure of the lumen. But only the initial stages of the disease can be cured with laser correction. Several occupations are enough for this. Rehabilitation after laser surgery is not required.
Sclerotic effect
Sclerosant, a special solution that causes a loss of elasticity of the vessel wall, is deformed and unable to perform its function in the lumen. This method is applicable to both large and small vessels. But in the case of a large venous lesion, although the blood circulation to the limbs will improve, the cosmetic defect may persist.
Laser ablation
A sterile catheter is inserted into the dilated section of the vein and an electrode is inserted through it. The effect of the laser is performed on the inner surface of the vessel, causing the walls to collapse and the lumen to completely seal. Blood flow begins to form through the smaller blood vessels, and the vein exposed to laser radiation gradually thins and disappears.
The postoperative period with such an intervention can take up to a day, but the complete elimination of cosmetic defects will not take place after a few months.
Radiofrequency ablation
The method is similar to the laser method, but uses radio frequency radiation. Radiofrequency ablation is performed on large large vessels and is the approximate length of the radiation exposure: from the groin to the knee or from the knee to the foot. The therapeutic effect is achieved 2-3 times, but the complete disappearance of the deformed vein occurs after a few weeks.
Connection
If we apply a ligature (bond) on both sides at the site of the large vessel, it can be disconnected from the bloodstream system, which begins to bypass the smaller veins. The sites of overlap of the ligature fall and grow firmly together. The dressing 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 way to rid the varicose vein if the damaged blood flow already has negative consequences. "Turning off" the abnormally deformed venous site from the circulation helps reduce pain and edema.
Minor phlebectomy
This surgery is also performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. The difference compared to 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 completely removed), such a mini-operation is considered less traumatic and requires almost no rehabilitation.
Although minimally invasive treatment methods are considered surgical due to the mechanical effect on the blood vessels, using the above methods, the negative consequences of surgery on the leg veins are minimal for the patient and rehabilitation occurs shortly after surgery.
It is possible to remove an enlarged varicose vein on the legs without surgery, but the success of the treatment depends not only on the method chosen, but also on the patient’s willingness to follow medical recommendations.