Varicose veins

[cutter1974]

I am not sure if I have varicose veins or not. I am around 50 lbs overweight and 6 1/2 weeks pregnant. My legs are aching really bad from the knees to my ankles. I do have some small prominent blue bulging veins near the surface, but they have been there for years and never hurt. Can a person have them so deep that you can't see it? I fell last week and have some very deep and large contusions on the front of my right leg. My calves seem to be slightly swollen, but my ankles are normal. Should I be concerned? And what can I do to ease the pain.

[Medlineonline]

Varicose disease often starts at a young age, women can develop the disease during pregnancy.
First varices feeling of heaviness in the legs, fatigue, and sometimes bulging, swelling, and even muscle cramps,
themselves in this vein may look normal. This is called symptom "restless leg syndrome." From
onset of symptoms to severe clinical disease may take years and even decades.
Over time, the veins of patients becoming purple, become lumpy, twisted.
In advanced cases, there are signs of chronic venous insufficiency, increased pigmentation of the skin leg
sores.
Many women experience varicose veins as a purely cosmetic problem,
which makes your feet less attractive. But there comes a time when the swollen veins in the legs
begin to bring a lot of trouble. Constant feeling of discomfort, pain, swelling, bruising become your
unseen companions.
It was once thought that varicose veins is a disease only women. However, men also
faced with this problem. It concerns about 30% of the male population. In addition to varicose
venous disease may also affect the intimate sphere, which entails more serious consequences.
Undoubtedly, the prevention of varicose veins is the basis of the health of blood vessels. However, if the disease is manifested,
and the symptoms do occur, are unlikely to transfer preventive measures will be of great benefit.
In this case, you should pay attention to the treatment with "Venazin", ie medication.
"Venazin" is able to slow the progression of the disease and significantly reduce the symptoms, making surgery
is not mandatory.

[cutter1974]

THank you for your response. I will look at trying some support hose and see if that helps.

[Christopher R Watters, MD]

The unfortunate reality is that most pregnant women will have some degree of failure in their leg veins at least during the pregnancy. This is due to multiple factors that all produce challenges. The volume of circulating blood increases substantially. Hormones that allow the uterus to stretch and expand also allow leg veins to do the same, making the valves in these vessels incompetent. Also, the expanding uterus causing some obstruction of the pelvic vessels which further increases the pressure in the veins of the legs. The good news is that the bulk of these changes reverse after delivery. The best thing to do during the pregnancy is to wear support hose. The gentle compression negates much of the stasis and minimizes the symptoms.