Treatment of varicose veins with folk remedies

Patients often try to cure 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 a 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 entirely correct.

Phlebologists do not consider traditional methods to be 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 doesn't herbal medicine cure varicose veins?

The use of various herbal 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 with varicose veins are irreversible.And no single 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 the regression of phlebosclerosis and the 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 in fact can only withstand a normal level of intravascular pressure without consequences.
• There are a small number of intravenous valves in the uterus, which may be a familial or even racial trait.

Of course, all this cannot be eliminated with the help of herbal remedies or other non-surgical techniques.Therefore, there is no need to talk about the treatment of varicose veins with the help of conservative therapy, regardless of what advertising and publications promise.

Improvement of the condition when taking medications or herbal remedies only indicates compensation of existing venous insufficiency.The length of this remission period depends on many factors.And the continuation of phytotherapy does not at all guarantee a low probability of resumption of symptoms and prevention of 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 healing extracts have formed the basis of numerous modern medicines.So patients may refuse to independently prepare decoctions and infusions for oral administration.Many people prefer standardized pharmaceutical products with adequate dosage, ease of 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 knotweed (knotweed) and a number of other plants are often used for medicinal purposes.

Chamomile helps relieve the symptoms of varicose veins in the initial 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 therapies.

Dandelion is a folk remedy for varicose veins.The dried roots and stem are added to tea and also when taking a bath.Relieves mild pain, but does not have a therapeutic effect.

The effect of folk remedies

Herbal medicine has a limited effect on the affected veins:

• Phlebotonic effect - increased tone of the veins.But do not forget that with varicose veins the structure of the affected vessels changes irreversibly.In their walls not only the amount of connective tissue increases significantly (the phenomenon is called phlebosclerosis), but the structure of the muscle layer is also disturbed.Therefore, already deformed veins will give an insufficient response to phlebotonic substances.Their lumen can be narrowed mainly with the help of potent compounds, for example, ergot alkaloids.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.
• Compaction of the vein, due to which the deformation process is somewhat contained.This effect can be used in complex prevention in subjects at risk.But it still will not be possible to stop, much less reverse, existing varicose veins in this way.
• Antithrombotic and disaggregating effect, which reduces the risk of thrombosis and has a beneficial effect on microcirculation.But this effect can be expected only with sufficiently long use of decoctions and infusions.Furthermore, blood thinning will not occur locally in the area of varicose veins, but throughout the body.In some patients, this can lead to complications of other diseases.
• Anti-inflammatory and healing effect, manifested mainly in local phytotherapy for trophic ulcers and eczematous venous dermatitis.But without eliminating venostasis (the main cause of these complications), it will not be possible to achieve a long-lasting normalization of the skin condition.

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

Apitherapy for varicose veins

Apitherapy or “bee therapy” is the use of bee venom and various bee products for medicinal purposes.Recommendations for the use of honey and propolis as compresses in case of trophic ulcers and the presence of visible varicose veins are quite common.Some also resort to apitoxin therapy sessions, deliberately obtaining 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 treating varicose veins of the legs, let's consider the expected effect and the possibility of its occurrence:

• Improve the trophism of the tissues and provide them with the vitamins and microelements contained in honey.In fact, there is no 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 - the antimicrobial effect of applying honey compresses.The highly digestible carbohydrates of this beekeeping product can become a breeding ground for opportunistic microorganisms.This can lead to exactly the opposite effect, especially in conditions of skin dysbiosis that occurs with 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 nonspecific inflammation.But in the case of varicose veins, major 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 that local allergic reactions similar to inflammation will develop - this will not improve the condition of the legs.
• Fighting thrombosis (with apitoxin therapy), which is explained by the presence of a substance similar to hirudin in bee venom.Trying to take advantage of this effect, apitherapists often plant stinging bees on the areas of the veins affected by thrombophlebitis.In some cases, this actually triggers thrombolysis (reabsorption of the blood clot).But such an aggressive and incompletely controlled effect can cause 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 in inflamed areas after bee stings.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 aggravate existing disorders.The wounds formed after removal of the puncture serve as entrance gates for bacteria - the 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 punctures, modify all tissues in the area of development of inflammation.The skin thickens, the subcutaneous tissue becomes rougher, the walls of the subcutaneous vessels thicken, and varicose veins become less noticeable.But this does not mean that the irregular phlebosclerosis and nodular deformities of the veins arising in the background completely disappear.They are only compensated, which is accompanied by a temporary stabilization of the course of chronic venous insufficiency.And valvular sclerosis cannot be eliminated with apitherapy.

Apitherapy is indeed a very powerful means of traditional medicine, but with 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 treat varicose veins?

Leeches have long been used in the treatment of 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, eliminates symptoms, improves tissue trophism, 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 various substances present in its saliva: the anticoagulant hirudin, the collagenase and apyrase enzymes with disaggregating properties.But the leech cannot act on blood clots already existing in the veins and does not reduce the likelihood of thromboembolism in thrombophlebitis.Furthermore, proteins from saliva decompose quite quickly, so a long-term antithrombotic effect cannot be expected from hirudotherapy.
• Sucking blood from a leech reduces intravascular pressure.This relief of local blood flow is temporary and is unable to relieve the patient from venous stagnation with varicose veins.
• Some substances present in the leech's saliva have a vasodilatory effect and lead to the dilation of small vessels.In some cases, this helps improve microcirculation.Venous insufficiency caused by varicose veins is accompanied by an overextension of the final sections of the venous network due to blood stagnation.Therefore further expansion of small vessels may not have the best effect on the state of the microvascular system.In the case of varicose veins, this effect resulting from the use of leeches can even make the situation worse.

Hirudotherapy currently refers more to physiotherapeutic methods than to traditional ones.But phlebologists are still very wary of such treatment due to the high probability of complications - erysipelas.

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

The suction of leeches further disturbs the functioning of the skin barrier.And the open wound after its separation can even become a gateway for pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria.And the most likely infectious complication of hirudotherapy will be erysipelas.Additionally, proteins from leech saliva are foreign to the human body and can potentially act as allergens.

Hirudotherapy cannot alleviate varicose veins of the lower extremities nor 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 further progression of the disease and eliminate the main cause of chronic venous insufficiency.

Self-medication is dangerous!

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 close arteries, which can lead to myocardial infarction, stroke and disruption of the functioning of many organs.Pulmonary embolism is one of the most lethal conditions.
• Trophic ulcer, subject to chronicity and recurrence.
• Venous eczema is a severe and protracted dermatitis on an infectious-allergic basis.It significantly worsens the quality of life and may 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 excluded from the blood flow).As a result, the patient eliminates pathological blood loss, eliminates venous stagnation and improves tissue nutrition.

Currently, patients have the option to choose equally effective minimally invasive endovenous interventions instead of classical operations.These include:

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

The treatment method is selected based on 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 any stage of the disease.