There are very few illness processes that are as widespread or as common as varicose veins, which are reported to affect up to 1 in 4 adults at some stage in their lives. Although some individuals do seek remedies merely simply because of the unsightly cosmetic appearance from the veins; varicose undesireable veins can cause a multitude of symptoms, discomfort and difficulties if not treated effectively.
There are many typical myths "old wives tales" concerning varicoses, such as:
"The prevalence of varicose undesireable veins is greater in women than it is in men"
This myth is mainly the result of poor research methodology, where doctors have merely counted the quantity of individuals who arrive and see them, without searching at sufferers who have not attended for consultation. This meant that when study into the prevalence of varicose undesireable veins was carries out in 1990 women had been perceived to suffer much more frequently than males, as there is a tendency for ladies to become much more health conscious in general and much more willing to see their GP.
Much more recent research, done at the end of the 1990's in Edinburgh, when individuals were stopped on the streets and also the number of people with signs and signs and symptoms were counted, showed that statistically there was no actual difference in between the quantity of men and also the quantity of women suffering the comlaint.
"Pregnancy causes varicose veins"
This myth suggests that many ladies don't suffer symptoms prior to their pregnancy, but the veins developed throughout or as a result of their pregnancy.
The statistical information showing an equal prevalence in between men and ladies suggests that this may be untrue, as if pregnancy did cause varicoses, then men should not have the same prevalence to the situation as women.
Additionally, if would make sense that, if pregnancy did cause varicoses, much more ladies would be seen for varicose veins during their child bearing years, but this isn't the situation.
Study performed in Chester in the late 1990's using duplex ultrasound shows that only ladies who have lost their valve function prior to getting pregnant go on to get varicoses following pregnancy.
Ladies increase their blood volume by 40% throughout pregnancy, and this, along using the hormones throughout pregnancy that permit the tissues to stretch, means that varicoses that were not visible before pregnancy are now apparent.
The one exception to this rule is Pelvic Congestion Syndrome and ladies who go on to have a normal vaginal delivery of their baby. In this group of 2% of women throughout pregnancy the abnormal veins which are apparent as vulval, vaginal or leg undesireable veins are because of a problem higher up within the pelvis, namely the ovarian veins, pelvic veins or iliac undesireable veins as the cause from the problem.
"Varicose veins are only cosmetic"
Visible varicose veins are normally blue or green, bulging through the skin of the leg.
As these are the veins that are observed people, including doctors, assume that they are the problems. In fact, these aren't the problem but the outcome of an underlying source.
The underlying cause may be the leg muscle pump not functioning efficiently, and as this fails and gets worse so does the varicose undesireable veins. An easy analogy in understanding this is to think of the leg as a weed. Should you just chop of f the top of the weed it will continue to keep coming back time after time. Varicose undesireable veins are the top of the weed. Should you just take them out they will come back time and time again. To deal with a weed and the varicose veins you need to treat the root from the problem, the underlying issue of the truncal undesireable veins.
"Varicose will re-occur so no point in treating the varicose veins"
Varicose veins have often been referred to as cosmetic problems and a minor issue and we now know in most situation this is wrong.
There are a few reasons why varicose undesireable veins can arrive back again:
* Inadequate treatment methods
* Inadequate assessment
* Consultants with limited knowledge in the field
We know that the only accurate method to assess varicoses is by performing a comprehensive colour duplex ultrasound investigation to map the veins and their difficulties.
The old way of assessing varicoses was just by searching at the leg and guessing the undesireable veins that had been the issue. The inadequacies of this are apparent in that the wrong vein were often treated.
Now with colour Doppler ultrasound methods, we can not just accurately map the veins beforehand showing the exact problems but we can also use ultrasound during the procedures to ensure correct treatment.
The treatment that was the preferred technique a few years ago was stripping of the underlying undesireable veins that had been causing the varicoses. We now know that there's a high chance of these veins growing back. Veins are part of the connective tissue and, in a similar fashion to the way a cut to the hand will heal, if you cut a vein the vein tries to heal.
Localised bleeding from the operation acts like a 'food' for the vein and so it re grows via the blood, called revascularisation (re growth) or neovascularisation (new growth).
Varicoses were quiet often treated by non-specialised consultants or junior staff as they had been perceived to be a minor problem and as such the condition was not given the respect it deserved.
With new methods this kind of as endovenous laser ablation and radiofrequency treatments, consultants becoming more specialised in varicose undesireable veins remedies and the advance of diagnostic imaging we are now seeing varicose veins don't come back again if they're treated correctly.
"Standing for lengthy periods causes varicose veins"
The cause of varicoses and venous related conditions such as thrombophlebitis (clotting of the blood in the superficial undesireable veins), venous eczema and venous ulcers may be the failure from the leg pump, with the pump not being able to pump the blood back again out from the leg.
The failure from the leg pump is predominantly down towards the failure of the valves inside the veins. It has been shown that by the age of 9, 1 in 20 girls has already lost their valves and by 18, 1 in 9.
Just simply because the valves have stopped functioning though doesn't mean to say that varicose veins are immediately eminent, as damage is caused over time to the tissues. So individuals who stand for lengthy periods are not more prone to varicose veins, but standing make the problem arrive to light sooner.
The only actual commonly known truth is that varicose veins have a familial trait; that is to say that they tend to 'run in the family'. This doesn't mean to say everyone who has the issue running in their family will go on to develop signs and symptoms. Also some people don't have visible varicose undesireable veins but have the symptoms of muscle pump failure such as:
* Leg swelling
* Leg Aching
* Itching legs
* Venous eczema
* Haemosidering (brown staining)
* Lipomatosclerosis (Hardening of the skin and tissue)
* Bleeding veins
* Leg Ulcers
Why we get varicose undesireable veins and who will develop them are questions that aren't yet fully answered or understood. We only realize the traits and also the tendencies, but with more research and improvements in techniques and investigations hopefully we can not only realize varicose undesireable veins more clearly but also deal with them in the greatest feasible way.
There are many typical myths "old wives tales" concerning varicoses, such as:
"The prevalence of varicose undesireable veins is greater in women than it is in men"
This myth is mainly the result of poor research methodology, where doctors have merely counted the quantity of individuals who arrive and see them, without searching at sufferers who have not attended for consultation. This meant that when study into the prevalence of varicose undesireable veins was carries out in 1990 women had been perceived to suffer much more frequently than males, as there is a tendency for ladies to become much more health conscious in general and much more willing to see their GP.
Much more recent research, done at the end of the 1990's in Edinburgh, when individuals were stopped on the streets and also the number of people with signs and signs and symptoms were counted, showed that statistically there was no actual difference in between the quantity of men and also the quantity of women suffering the comlaint.
"Pregnancy causes varicose veins"
This myth suggests that many ladies don't suffer symptoms prior to their pregnancy, but the veins developed throughout or as a result of their pregnancy.
The statistical information showing an equal prevalence in between men and ladies suggests that this may be untrue, as if pregnancy did cause varicoses, then men should not have the same prevalence to the situation as women.
Additionally, if would make sense that, if pregnancy did cause varicoses, much more ladies would be seen for varicose veins during their child bearing years, but this isn't the situation.
Study performed in Chester in the late 1990's using duplex ultrasound shows that only ladies who have lost their valve function prior to getting pregnant go on to get varicoses following pregnancy.
Ladies increase their blood volume by 40% throughout pregnancy, and this, along using the hormones throughout pregnancy that permit the tissues to stretch, means that varicoses that were not visible before pregnancy are now apparent.
The one exception to this rule is Pelvic Congestion Syndrome and ladies who go on to have a normal vaginal delivery of their baby. In this group of 2% of women throughout pregnancy the abnormal veins which are apparent as vulval, vaginal or leg undesireable veins are because of a problem higher up within the pelvis, namely the ovarian veins, pelvic veins or iliac undesireable veins as the cause from the problem.
"Varicose veins are only cosmetic"
Visible varicose veins are normally blue or green, bulging through the skin of the leg.
As these are the veins that are observed people, including doctors, assume that they are the problems. In fact, these aren't the problem but the outcome of an underlying source.
The underlying cause may be the leg muscle pump not functioning efficiently, and as this fails and gets worse so does the varicose undesireable veins. An easy analogy in understanding this is to think of the leg as a weed. Should you just chop of f the top of the weed it will continue to keep coming back time after time. Varicose undesireable veins are the top of the weed. Should you just take them out they will come back time and time again. To deal with a weed and the varicose veins you need to treat the root from the problem, the underlying issue of the truncal undesireable veins.
"Varicose will re-occur so no point in treating the varicose veins"
Varicose veins have often been referred to as cosmetic problems and a minor issue and we now know in most situation this is wrong.
There are a few reasons why varicose undesireable veins can arrive back again:
* Inadequate treatment methods
* Inadequate assessment
* Consultants with limited knowledge in the field
We know that the only accurate method to assess varicoses is by performing a comprehensive colour duplex ultrasound investigation to map the veins and their difficulties.
The old way of assessing varicoses was just by searching at the leg and guessing the undesireable veins that had been the issue. The inadequacies of this are apparent in that the wrong vein were often treated.
Now with colour Doppler ultrasound methods, we can not just accurately map the veins beforehand showing the exact problems but we can also use ultrasound during the procedures to ensure correct treatment.
The treatment that was the preferred technique a few years ago was stripping of the underlying undesireable veins that had been causing the varicoses. We now know that there's a high chance of these veins growing back. Veins are part of the connective tissue and, in a similar fashion to the way a cut to the hand will heal, if you cut a vein the vein tries to heal.
Localised bleeding from the operation acts like a 'food' for the vein and so it re grows via the blood, called revascularisation (re growth) or neovascularisation (new growth).
Varicoses were quiet often treated by non-specialised consultants or junior staff as they had been perceived to be a minor problem and as such the condition was not given the respect it deserved.
With new methods this kind of as endovenous laser ablation and radiofrequency treatments, consultants becoming more specialised in varicose undesireable veins remedies and the advance of diagnostic imaging we are now seeing varicose veins don't come back again if they're treated correctly.
"Standing for lengthy periods causes varicose veins"
The cause of varicoses and venous related conditions such as thrombophlebitis (clotting of the blood in the superficial undesireable veins), venous eczema and venous ulcers may be the failure from the leg pump, with the pump not being able to pump the blood back again out from the leg.
The failure from the leg pump is predominantly down towards the failure of the valves inside the veins. It has been shown that by the age of 9, 1 in 20 girls has already lost their valves and by 18, 1 in 9.
Just simply because the valves have stopped functioning though doesn't mean to say that varicose veins are immediately eminent, as damage is caused over time to the tissues. So individuals who stand for lengthy periods are not more prone to varicose veins, but standing make the problem arrive to light sooner.
The only actual commonly known truth is that varicose veins have a familial trait; that is to say that they tend to 'run in the family'. This doesn't mean to say everyone who has the issue running in their family will go on to develop signs and symptoms. Also some people don't have visible varicose undesireable veins but have the symptoms of muscle pump failure such as:
* Leg swelling
* Leg Aching
* Itching legs
* Venous eczema
* Haemosidering (brown staining)
* Lipomatosclerosis (Hardening of the skin and tissue)
* Bleeding veins
* Leg Ulcers
Why we get varicose undesireable veins and who will develop them are questions that aren't yet fully answered or understood. We only realize the traits and also the tendencies, but with more research and improvements in techniques and investigations hopefully we can not only realize varicose undesireable veins more clearly but also deal with them in the greatest feasible way.
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