There are very couple of disease processes that are as widespread or as typical as varicose veins, which are reported to affect up to 1 in 4 adults at some stage in their lives. Even though some individuals do seek remedies merely because from the unsightly cosmetic appearance from the veins; varicose veins can trigger a multitude of signs and symptoms, discomfort and difficulties if not treated effectively.
There are lots of common myths "old wives tales" concerning varicoses, such as:
"The prevalence of varicose veins is greater in ladies than it's in men"
This myth is mainly the result of poor study methodology, where doctors have merely counted the number of individuals who come and see them, without searching at sufferers who have not attended for consultation. This meant that when research into the prevalence of varicose undesireable veins was carries out in 1990 ladies were perceived to suffer much more frequently than men, as there's a tendency for ladies to be much more health conscious in general and more willing to see their GP.
More recent study, done at the end from the 1990's in Edinburgh, when individuals had been stopped on the streets and the number of individuals with signs and symptoms were counted, showed that statistically there was no actual difference in between the number of men and the quantity of ladies suffering the comlaint.
"Pregnancy causes varicose veins"
This myth suggests that many women don't suffer signs and symptoms before their pregnancy, but the undesireable veins developed throughout or as a result of their pregnancy.
The statistical information showing an equal prevalence in between males and women suggests that this might be untrue, as if pregnancy did trigger varicoses, then men ought to not have the same prevalence to the situation as ladies.
Additionally, if would make sense that, if pregnancy did cause varicoses, more women would be seen for varicose veins throughout their child bearing years, but this isn't the situation.
Study performed in Chester within the late 1990's utilizing duplex ultrasound shows that only women who've lost their valve function before getting pregnant go on to get varicoses following pregnancy.
Women improve their blood volume by 40% during pregnancy, and this, along using the hormones during pregnancy that allow the tissues to stretch, means that varicoses that had been not visible prior to 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 ladies during pregnancy the abnormal undesireable veins that are apparent as vulval, vaginal or leg veins are due to a problem higher up in the pelvis, namely the ovarian undesireable veins, pelvic undesireable veins or iliac veins as the trigger of the issue.
"Varicose undesireable veins are only cosmetic"
Visible varicose undesireable veins are normally blue or green, bulging through the skin of the leg.
As they are the undesireable veins which are observed people, including doctors, assume that these are the difficulties. In truth, these are not the issue but the outcome of an underlying source.
The underlying trigger is 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. If you just chop of f the top of the weed it will continue to keep coming back time after time. Varicose veins are the top from the weed. Should you just take them out they will come back time and time again. To deal with a weed and the varicose undesireable veins you have to treat the root from the problem, the underlying issue from the truncal 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 problem and we now know in most case this is wrong.
You will find a couple of reasons why varicose veins can arrive back again:
* Inadequate treatment techniques
* Inadequate assessment
* Consultants with limited knowledge in the field
We know that the only accurate way 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 looking at the leg and guessing the veins that were the issue. The inadequacies of this are apparent in that the wrong vein had been often treated.
Now with colour Doppler ultrasound methods, we can not only accurately map the veins beforehand showing the exact difficulties but we can also use ultrasound throughout the procedures to ensure correct therapy.
The therapy that was the preferred method a couple of years ago was stripping from the underlying undesireable veins that had been causing the varicoses. We now know that there is a high chance of these undesireable veins growing back again. Veins are part from the connective tissue and, in a similar fashion towards the way a cut towards 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 had been quiet often treated by non-specialised consultants or junior staff as they had been perceived to become a minor issue and as such the situation was not given the respect it deserved.
With new methods such as endovenous laser ablation and radiofrequency treatments, consultants becoming much more specialised in varicose undesireable veins remedies and also the advance of diagnostic imaging we are now seeing varicose undesireable veins do not come back again if they are treated correctly.
"Standing for lengthy periods causes varicose veins"
The cause of varicoses and venous related conditions such as thrombophlebitis (clotting from the blood within the superficial veins), venous eczema and venous ulcers may be the failure from the leg pump, using the pump not being able to pump the blood back again out of the leg.
The failure of the leg pump is predominantly down towards the failure of the valves inside the undesireable 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 does not mean to say that varicose veins are instantly eminent, as damage is caused over time to the tissues. So people who stand for lengthy periods aren't much more prone to varicose veins, but standing make the problem arrive to light sooner.
The only real commonly known fact is that varicose veins have a familial trait; that's 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 symptoms. Also some people don't have visible varicose undesireable veins but have the signs and 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 veins and who will develop them are questions that are not yet fully answered or understood. We only understand the traits and the tendencies, but with more study and improvements in methods and investigations hopefully we can not only realize varicose undesireable veins more clearly but also deal with them within the greatest possible way.
There are lots of common myths "old wives tales" concerning varicoses, such as:
"The prevalence of varicose veins is greater in ladies than it's in men"
This myth is mainly the result of poor study methodology, where doctors have merely counted the number of individuals who come and see them, without searching at sufferers who have not attended for consultation. This meant that when research into the prevalence of varicose undesireable veins was carries out in 1990 ladies were perceived to suffer much more frequently than men, as there's a tendency for ladies to be much more health conscious in general and more willing to see their GP.
More recent study, done at the end from the 1990's in Edinburgh, when individuals had been stopped on the streets and the number of individuals with signs and symptoms were counted, showed that statistically there was no actual difference in between the number of men and the quantity of ladies suffering the comlaint.
"Pregnancy causes varicose veins"
This myth suggests that many women don't suffer signs and symptoms before their pregnancy, but the undesireable veins developed throughout or as a result of their pregnancy.
The statistical information showing an equal prevalence in between males and women suggests that this might be untrue, as if pregnancy did trigger varicoses, then men ought to not have the same prevalence to the situation as ladies.
Additionally, if would make sense that, if pregnancy did cause varicoses, more women would be seen for varicose veins throughout their child bearing years, but this isn't the situation.
Study performed in Chester within the late 1990's utilizing duplex ultrasound shows that only women who've lost their valve function before getting pregnant go on to get varicoses following pregnancy.
Women improve their blood volume by 40% during pregnancy, and this, along using the hormones during pregnancy that allow the tissues to stretch, means that varicoses that had been not visible prior to 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 ladies during pregnancy the abnormal undesireable veins that are apparent as vulval, vaginal or leg veins are due to a problem higher up in the pelvis, namely the ovarian undesireable veins, pelvic undesireable veins or iliac veins as the trigger of the issue.
"Varicose undesireable veins are only cosmetic"
Visible varicose undesireable veins are normally blue or green, bulging through the skin of the leg.
As they are the undesireable veins which are observed people, including doctors, assume that these are the difficulties. In truth, these are not the issue but the outcome of an underlying source.
The underlying trigger is 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. If you just chop of f the top of the weed it will continue to keep coming back time after time. Varicose veins are the top from the weed. Should you just take them out they will come back time and time again. To deal with a weed and the varicose undesireable veins you have to treat the root from the problem, the underlying issue from the truncal 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 problem and we now know in most case this is wrong.
You will find a couple of reasons why varicose veins can arrive back again:
* Inadequate treatment techniques
* Inadequate assessment
* Consultants with limited knowledge in the field
We know that the only accurate way 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 looking at the leg and guessing the veins that were the issue. The inadequacies of this are apparent in that the wrong vein had been often treated.
Now with colour Doppler ultrasound methods, we can not only accurately map the veins beforehand showing the exact difficulties but we can also use ultrasound throughout the procedures to ensure correct therapy.
The therapy that was the preferred method a couple of years ago was stripping from the underlying undesireable veins that had been causing the varicoses. We now know that there is a high chance of these undesireable veins growing back again. Veins are part from the connective tissue and, in a similar fashion towards the way a cut towards 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 had been quiet often treated by non-specialised consultants or junior staff as they had been perceived to become a minor issue and as such the situation was not given the respect it deserved.
With new methods such as endovenous laser ablation and radiofrequency treatments, consultants becoming much more specialised in varicose undesireable veins remedies and also the advance of diagnostic imaging we are now seeing varicose undesireable veins do not come back again if they are treated correctly.
"Standing for lengthy periods causes varicose veins"
The cause of varicoses and venous related conditions such as thrombophlebitis (clotting from the blood within the superficial veins), venous eczema and venous ulcers may be the failure from the leg pump, using the pump not being able to pump the blood back again out of the leg.
The failure of the leg pump is predominantly down towards the failure of the valves inside the undesireable 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 does not mean to say that varicose veins are instantly eminent, as damage is caused over time to the tissues. So people who stand for lengthy periods aren't much more prone to varicose veins, but standing make the problem arrive to light sooner.
The only real commonly known fact is that varicose veins have a familial trait; that's 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 symptoms. Also some people don't have visible varicose undesireable veins but have the signs and 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 veins and who will develop them are questions that are not yet fully answered or understood. We only understand the traits and the tendencies, but with more study and improvements in methods and investigations hopefully we can not only realize varicose undesireable veins more clearly but also deal with them within the greatest possible way.
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