As with many other diseases, the same applies to vein weakness and varicose veins: The best thing is to prevent! Most risk factors can be eliminated or at least reduced. How you can prevent vein problems and what treatment helps with vein weakness, you can learn here.
Prevent vein weakness
Helpful general measures to prevent vein problems include:
- Exercise: People who have heavy legs would like to sit down. But this is wrong. Walking as much as possible every day really gets the muscle pumps going. Especially suitable sports are swimming, running, cycling, cross-country skiing, hiking, dancing and golfing.
- Avoid sitting or standing for long periods of time: Elevate feet as often as possible (lower legs at heart level) or at least repeatedly tense and relax the muscles of the feet and legs, incorporate foot circles and toe stand exercises. Do not cross your legs when sitting.
- Reduce excess weight
- Wear flat shoes and loose clothing that does not cut into the back of the knee or groin: High heels hinder the muscle pump, tight jeans and too tight rubber of knee socks the return flow of blood.
- Avoid alcohol and nicotine
- Cold stimuli tighten veins: regular alternating baths or alternating showers of the legs from the feet to the thigh, preferably several times a day.
- Avoiding exposure to heat and extensive sunbathing: Strike best tub bath, sunbathing or tanning bed. Prefer to go swimming at the seaside and take long walks on the beach. Sauna in moderation (individual courses only briefly, in between plunge pool) is allowed, as long as there is no phlebitis.
What else helps against vein problems?
In addition, there is special support for vein problems. Talk to your doctor and get advice at the pharmacy:
- Support stockings help with heavy legs and prevent swelling, but are not suitable for therapy for varicose veins. They are available as stockings or tights in the pharmacy in many fashionable colors.
- Edema is prevented and reduced by so-called edema protectants – preparations from horse chestnut seeds, red vine leaves or buckwheat herb. They seal the vein walls and increase wall tension. Rutin has a similar effect. It is found mainly in rue, but also in other plants (e.g. buckwheat, fennel, blackcurrant) and is also available as a ready-to-use preparation. The effect is noticeable after two weeks at the earliest; the vein remedies should also be taken for life.
- Blood circulation-promoting or anticoagulant ointments and gels, for example, with horse chestnut seeds or heparin alleviate the discomfort.
Effective means for the veins
The range of vein medicines is wide. However, with many substances the effectiveness is not objectively proven or the means contain effective ingredients, but these in far too small quantities. Preparations from the pharmacy are dosed high enough.
There are only a few active ingredients that have received good marks in large-scale studies. The extract of the:
- Horse chestnut seed (look for the word “Aescin” on the package).
- Japanese cordwood (look for the word “oxerutin” on the package).
- Red vine leaves (look for the word “flavonoids” on the package).
- Butcher’s broom (look for the word “ruscogenins” on the package).
