Spider Veins and Varicose Veins, Cosmetic or Risky?

What are spider veins? Is there a difference between them and varicose veins? how are they formed? are they dangerous? is there a treatment?.This article tries to answer these questions by giving an overview of the whole subject.


Why Veins?

Physiologically, veins are the deposit place where blood is stored in between every 2 successive heart beats (heart muscle contractions). While arteries are designed to dilate when blood is pushed within them,veins have no elastic walls exerting a passive effect on blood movementand this is why they are supplied with valves that keep blood circulating within the circulatory system ( heart--> arteries--> veins--> heart). To help push the blood in the legs against the gravity, veins are squeezed by skeletal muscle contraction when one walks.

Formation and Appearance:

Varicose veins are formed when there is a defect in the walls of veins,and this defect makes their tone is less than than normal leading to their dilatation, as a result, veins are engorged with venous blood that is weakly circulated. The defect may be in the valves leading to leakage of blood below the valves, and is accumulated and pooled in the veins.

Varicose veins can be seen or touched as twisted and bugling swollen dark purple or blue veins that are raised above the skin surface, commonly on the back of the calves or the inside of the legs. During pregnancy, varicose veins (hemorrhoids) can form in the vagina or around the anus.

Spider veins are the smaller red or blue veins looking like spider web or tree branches, and much closer to the skin covering either a very small or very large area of skin on the leg and face, and they do not represent a risk.Hands veins are normal, healthy veins that have become more visible, and both of them and spider veins need no treatment, yet some people ask for medical interference for cosmetic purposes.

Causes:

While people that are susceptible to acquiring varicose or spider veins may inherent those genes that produce weak venous walls or valves, yet there are some risk factors , these are :
* Pregnancy.
* Occupations that require standing for long period of times.
* Trauma.
* Aging.

Symptoms:

Symptoms of varicose veins include :
* Aching pain.
* Easily tired legs.
* Leg heaviness.
* Swelling in the legs.
* Darkening of the skin (in severe cases).
* Numbness in the legs.

Complications of Varicose veins :

Varicose veins (but not spider veins) usually enlarge and worsen over time, and severe varicose veins may cause serious problems like:
1- Blood clots: Severe venous insufficiency allows venous blood to stagnate carrying a lot of waste and noxious products, leading to severe infection and blood clotting. Blood clots in the deep veins can be very serious as they can move from leg veins to the lung and can block lung and heart functions.

2- Sores or skin ulcers: they are formed on skin tissues around the varicose veins, causing ongoing irritation, swelling, and painful rashes of legs. Care of these ulcers are difficult as long as there are varicose veins.

Doctor Visit:

To cut on the varicose veins and prevent their silly prognosis, you should see your doctor if:1- There are sores or rash on the leg or near the ankle with the varicose veins.2- The varicose veins become swollen, red, or very tender, or warm to the touch.

Treatment :

1- Medical :
It can be used for temporary varicose veins like those formed during pregnancy, They contain mostly active ingredients derived from horse chest nut (aesculus hypocastanum) and flavonoids derived mostly from the citrus fruits.

2- Sclerotherapy:
It is the most common treatment of both spider and varicose veins. It involves injecting some chemicals into the affected veins to cause their scarring, and in a few weeks the vein should fade. Among the techniques implemented are, Microsclerotherapy and Ultra-sound guided sclerotherapy.

3- Laser Surgery:
It either uses laser directly on the spider veins in the leg to make them disappear, or uses endovenous techniques to treat deeper varicose veins of the legs.

4- Surgery:
used mostly to treat very large varicose veins, which are mostly superficial veins.

All treatment types have side effects ranging from mild to serious ones,depending their location, procedure used, and skill of the practising physician.


Some herbal remedies:

1- Rub apple cider vinegar on the spider or the varicose veins in the morning and in the evening for one month. You can add 2 teaspoonful to a cup of water and drink them in the morning and in the evening.
2- Put some Cabbage leaves to some Garlic in your mixer , mince and rub the affected legs with the resultant liquid.


Can we protect ourselves from getting varicose veins? Walk and use some personal care products that contain extracts of horse chest nut and flavonoids, they can help.

Diabetes wounds, How To use HONEY to Avoid Amputations.

How can a blister, a scratch or a wound in the skin of diabetes patients lead to % 50 of all cases of lower leg amputations?

The answer is in the nature of a diabetic skin and the stage at which treatment of the wound starts.Were that wound in the skin of a normal person, his blood would transport all the normal defense and healing elements required for healing the wound and repairing the skin, with the least medical care.

Nevertheless, in diabetes patients, the complications of diabetes involve thick blood, atherosclerosis and vessels fragility, all leading to poor blood supply of the leg specially the lower part inducing a dry THIN skin that is vulnerable to the least mechanical assault.
The other crucially important complication of diabetes that relates to wounds is diabetic neuropathy which affects nerves resulting in a reduced or abolished feeling in the feet, i.e. no pain or no signal to the patient who do not feel the injury.

The unnoticed scratch or wound in a diabetic leg gets bigger and deeper and affects the underlying tissues, such as muscles and tendons and becomes an opened gateway for infection which may reach the horrible stage of "gangrene" with which we may not avoid amputation.
When discovered, the wound receives intensive medical care that may reach skin substitution, in which a carrier material containing genetically engineered growth factors to encourage new tissue growth, and/or a synthetic form of natural proteins that help promote growth.

How can a diabetic avoid foot wounds:
There are many recommendations for diabetes patients to guard against wound formation and to discover them as soon as they are formed, like:
* Carefully dry your feet after bathing, specially between the toes.
* Don't walk around barefoot, not even indoors.
* Don't cut your nails yourself, have it done by a nurse.
* Avoid synthetic socks, wear cotton ones and wear the recommended shoes
* Avoid hyperglycemia and regulate your diet and treatment to adjust your blood Glucose.

The most important recommendations which represents the right clue to fight diabetes wounds and avoid prognosis to amputation stage are:
1- Ask your doctor or nurse to check your feet every visit.
2- INSPECT YOUR FEET DAILY FOR CUTS, WOUNDS, CALLUS OR INFECTED NAILS.
As this represents the starting point of extinguishing a small fire before it expands to burn the whole foot leading to its amputation.

Now, what if you apply a hydrating cream on your soles, feet and legs daily, instead of just inspecting them?. It is more safe and ensures a healthier skin that is not too fragile to break with the least external mechanical assaults.

Moreover, what if you repair any unnoticed cracks or scratches in your feet on daily basis? you want to know how?, it is simple :
Add Panthenol, Methionine, Honey, Propolis to your hydrating cream and this will endow your skin all the requirements for self repair.
Honey is used for wounds since very long times in the east, and now in England.
Propolis is clinically investigated in Europe, Japan and USA for use in wounds treatment.
Panthenol and metionine are nutritive materials that have a vital role in repairing the skin.
The Formula

Panthenol 2 g
Propolis 1 g
Hydrating cream 50 g

Part of this cream is admixed with equal part of honey and applied to the skin daily.