Treatment of varicose veins with folk remedies

Patients often try to treat varicose veins with folk remedies at home - based on plant extracts, there are even preparations for external use and oral administration, many of which are positioned as means to completely eliminate vein diseases.They are widely advertised and sold without a prescription.But, unfortunately, this attitude towards traditional methods in the case of varicose veins is not completely correct.

Phlebologists do not consider traditional methods as the main method of treating varicose veins of the lower extremities - traditional medicine can be effective in complex therapy and can only reduce symptoms.

Why does herbal medicine not cure varicose veins?

The use of various plant-based remedies is not able to relieve the patient from varicose veins even in the initial stages of the disease.This cannot be achieved with drug therapy and other conservative methods recommended by official medicine.

Changes in the walls of the veins in varicose veins are irreversible.And no product of natural or pharmaceutical origin can eliminate these characteristic disorders or at least reliably stop their progression.Currently, there are no drugs that lead to regression of phlebosclerosis and restoration of the normal structure of the vascular wall.

In many cases, patients have a hereditary predisposition to varicose veins of the lower extremities.

Factors for the development of varicose veins:

• Genetically determined "weakness" of the venous walls, which can actually withstand without consequences only a normal level of intravascular pressure.
• A small number of IV valves are present in utero, which may be a familial or even racial trait.

Of course, all this cannot be eliminated with the help of herbal medicines or other non-surgical techniques.Therefore, it is not necessary to talk about the treatment of varicose veins with the help of conservative therapy, no matter what the advertisements and publications promise.

Improvement of the condition while taking drugs or herbal preparations only indicates compensation of existing venous insufficiency.The duration of this remission period depends on many factors.And the continuation of herbal therapy does not at all guarantee a low probability of resuming symptoms and preventing the development of complications.

However, herbal products can still be used in the complex treatment of varicose veins of the lower extremities.In addition, some medicinal extracts form the basis of a number of modern medicines.So patients can refuse to independently prepare decoctions and infusions for oral administration.Many people prefer standardized pharmaceutical products with adjusted dosage, easy administration and predictable action.

What is the effect of herbal medicine and traditional methods?

For varicose veins, chamomile, horse chestnut, aromatic rue, horsetail, dandelion, meadow lumbago (sleeping grass), bird trick (knot) and a number of other plants are most often used for medical purposes.

Chamomile helps to relieve the symptoms of varicose veins in the early stages - it reduces the inflammatory process and the visibility of the affected veins.Chamomile tea and compresses have a minimum of contraindications and can be recommended by specialists in complex therapy.

Dandelion is a popular remedy for varicose veins.Dried roots and stems are added to tea and also to a bath.It relieves mild pain, but has no therapeutic effect.

The effect of public funds

Herbal treatment has a limited effect on the affected veins:

• Phlebotonic effect - increasing the tone of the veins.But remember that with varicose veins, the structure of the affected vessels changes irreversibly.In their walls, not only the amount of connective tissue significantly increases (which is called phlebosclerosis), but also the structure of the muscle layer is disturbed.Therefore, already deformed veins will give an insufficient response to phlebotonic substances.Their lumen can be narrowed mainly with the help of powerful compounds - for example, ergoalkaloids.But the side effects of such herbal medicine will be significant.Therefore, phlebotonic plants are used rather to reduce the severity of venous insufficiency and for preventive purposes.
• Sealing of the vein, due to which the process of its deformation is somewhat limited.This effect can be used in complex prevention in persons at risk.But it still won't be possible to stop, let alone reverse, existing varicose veins this way.
• Antithrombotic and disaggregation effect, which reduces the risk of thrombosis and has a beneficial effect on microcirculation.But this effect can be expected only with long enough use of decoctions and infusions.In addition, blood thinning will not occur locally in the area of varicose veins, but throughout the body.In some patients, it can lead to complications of other diseases.
• Anti-inflammatory and wound-healing effect, manifested mainly in local herbal medicine in trophic ulcers and eczematous venous dermatitis.But without eliminating venostasis (the main cause of these complications) it will not be possible to achieve permanent normalization of the skin condition.

As you can see, the symptoms of the disease will decrease only temporarily, and the varicose veins will not disappear completely.

Apitherapy for varicose veins

Apitherapy or "bee cure" is the use of bee venom and various bee products for medicinal purposes.Recommendations for using honey and propolis as compresses for trophic ulcers and the presence of visible varicose veins are quite common.Some also resort to apitoxin therapy sessions, deliberately achieving bee stings in the projection of the most affected vessels.

Honey and propolis in the form of compresses are used to relieve swelling and pain.

Apitherapy is a classic folk method for the treatment of varicose veins on the legs, let's look at the expected effect and the possibility of its occurrence:

• Improving tissue trophicity and providing them with vitamins and trace elements contained in honey.There is no real improvement - the penetration of the components through the skin is insignificant to talk about a significant therapeutic effect.In addition, a thick mass of honey can clog the pores and thus worsen the condition of the dermis.
• In the presence of a trophic ulcer - antimicrobial effect of the application of compresses with honey.The highly digestible carbohydrates of this bee product can become a favorable environment for opportunistic microorganisms.This can lead to the exact opposite effect, especially in conditions of skin dysbiosis occurring in varicose veins and against the background of a decrease in local immunity.
• Anti-inflammatory effect of honey compresses.Yes, honey can reduce the severity of non-specific inflammation.But with varicose veins, key changes occur in the wall of the subcutaneous vessel, and biologically active substances through the skin are still not absorbed well enough.Honey is a highly allergenic product;it is possible to develop local allergic reactions similar to inflammation - this will not improve the condition of the legs.
• Fighting thrombosis (with apitoxin therapy), which is explained by the presence of a hirudin-like substance in bee venom.Trying to use this effect, apitherapists often plant stinging bees on areas of veins affected by thrombophlebitis.In some cases, this actually activates thrombolysis (resorption of the blood clot).But such a rather aggressive and not fully controlled effect can provoke thromboembolism and increase the severity of phlebitis.
• Improvement of microcirculation under the influence of peptides contained in bee venom.Indeed, these biologically active substances contribute to the expansion of capillaries and blood flow to the places inflamed after a bee sting.Bee sting sessions can potentially improve the condition of the soft tissues of the legs affected by varicose veins.But apitoxin therapy is also accompanied by inflammation and swelling, which worsens existing disorders.Wounds formed after removal of the sting serve as entrance doors for bacteria - risk of developing erysipelas and other very undesirable infectious complications.
• Restoration of venous walls under the influence of bee venom.Peptides and other substances contained in it, with repeated stings, change all tissues in the area of development of inflammation.The skin thickens, the subcutaneous tissue becomes rougher, the walls of subcutaneous vessels thicken, varicose veins become less noticeable.But this does not mean that the uneven phlebosclerosis and the nodular deformations of the veins, which arise against its background, completely disappear.They are only compensated, which is accompanied by a temporary stabilization of the course of chronic venous insufficiency.And valvular sclerosis is not eliminated by apitherapy.

Apitherapy is indeed a very powerful tool of traditional medicine, but in the case of varicose veins, it is fraught with the development of infectious complications.It will not be possible to restore the walls of the veins with such treatment;it is only possible to stabilize the course of the disease and alleviate the symptoms.

Do leeches cure varicose veins?

Leeches have long been used to treat blood and vascular diseases.The risk of thrombosis is reduced and the pain is temporarily reduced.

Treatment with leeches (hirudotherapy) is a popular method of treating varicose veins and other vascular diseases, it removes symptoms, improves tissue trophicity, but the effect is limited in time:

• Reduced swelling and visible pigmentation.
• Sucking a leech reduces the risk of thrombosis.This is explained by the antithrombotic effect of several substances in her saliva: the anticoagulant hirudin, the enzymes collagenase and apyrase with disaggregating properties.But the leech cannot act on blood clots that already exist in the veins, and it does not reduce the likelihood of thromboembolism in thrombophlebitis.In addition, the proteins coming from her saliva decompose quite quickly, so a long-term antithrombotic effect of hirudotherapy cannot be expected.
• Sucking blood from a leech reduces intravascular pressure.This unloading of the local blood flow is temporary and is not able to free the patient from venous stagnation with varicose veins.
• Certain substances in the saliva of leeches have a vasodilating effect and lead to dilation of small vessels.In some cases, this helps improve microcirculation.Venous insufficiency caused by varicose veins is accompanied by overstretching of the end sections of the venous network due to blood stagnation.So additional dilation of small vessels may not have the best effect on the state of the microvasculature.With spider veins, this effect of using leeches can even make the situation worse.

Currently, hirudotherapy refers more to physiotherapeutic methods than to traditional ones.But phlebologists are still very wary of such treatment because of the high probability of complications - erysipelas.

Venous congestion, which develops with varicose veins, leads to impaired nutrition of all tissues of the limb, including the skin.The effectiveness of local immune factors decreases, the composition of the microflora on the surface of the epidermis changes.All this is a prerequisite for the development of infectious complications.

Sucking by leeches further disrupts the functioning of the skin barrier.And the gaping wound after its release can even become a gateway for pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria.And the most likely infectious complication of hirudotherapy will be erysipelas.In addition, the proteins coming from the saliva of leeches are foreign to the human body and can potentially act as allergens.

Hirudotherapy cannot relieve varicose veins of the lower extremities or lead to sustainable compensation of venous insufficiency.Increases the risk of infectious dermatitis and erysipelas.

How to deal with the disease?

Any conservative therapy for varicose veins is only symptomatic relief.The main effect is aimed at reducing the severity of venous stagnation and correcting complications.No conservative technique can prevent the further progression of the disease and eliminate the main cause of chronic venous insufficiency.

Self-medication is dangerous!

A late visit to the doctor and self-medication for varicose veins significantly increase the likelihood of complications:

• Thrombosis of superficial and deep veins with possible development of thromboembolism.Migrating blood clots clog arteries, which can lead to myocardial infarction, stroke, and multi-organ failure.Pulmonary embolism is one of the most deadly conditions.
• Trophic ulcer prone to chronicity and relapse.
• Venous eczema is a severe protracted dermatitis of an infectious-allergic basis.It significantly worsens the quality of life and can be complicated by erysipelas.
• Spontaneous ruptures of varicose veins with risk of blood loss.

In hospitals, varicose veins are treated surgically - the entire affected vessel and its main tributaries are removed (or completely cut off from the blood stream).As a result, the patient eliminates pathological bleeding, eliminates venous stagnation and improves tissue nutrition.

Currently, patients have the opportunity to choose equally effective minimally invasive intravenous interventions instead of classic operations.These include:

1. EVLO is obliteration of the affected vein (ie, irreversible closure of its lumen) after intravascular laser treatment.
2. RFO is an obliteration caused by exposure to radio frequency waves.
3. Sclerotherapy is the introduction of a special sclerosing drug into the lumen of the vessel, which provokes adhesion and subsequent obliteration of the vein.

The method of treatment is selected according to the indications, taking into account the stage of varicose veins and the presence of concomitant diseases.Uncomplicated varicose veins are usually eliminated with sclerotherapy or RFO, while advanced ones can be eliminated with laser technologies. Laser treatment of varicose veins gives excellent results at every stage of the disease.