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 disease.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 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 herbal medicines is not able to rid the patient of 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 vein walls in varicose veins are irreversible.And no product of natural or pharmaceutical origin can remove these characteristic disorders or at least reliably stop their progression.Currently, there are no drugs that lead to the 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 in fact can withstand only a normal level of intravascular pressure without consequences.
• A small number of intrauterine valves are present in the uterus, 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, we should not talk about the treatment of varicose veins with the help of conservative therapy, regardless of what advertisements and publications promise.

Improvement of the condition with the use of drugs or herbal remedies only indicates the compensation of the existing venous insufficiency.The duration of this remission period depends on many factors.And the continuation of treatment with herbs does not at all guarantee a low probability of continuation 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.Moreover, some medicinal extracts formed the basis of numerous modern medicines.Therefore, patients may refuse to independently prepare decoctions and infusions for oral administration.Many people prefer standardized pharmaceutical products with adjusted 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's wort and a number of other plants are most often used for medical purposes.

Chamomile helps 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 poultices have minimal contraindications and can be recommended by specialists in complex therapy.

Dandelion is a popular remedy for varicose veins.The dried root and stem are added to tea, as well as when bathing.It relieves mild pain, but has no therapeutic effect.

The effect of folk remedies

The herbal remedy has a limited effect on the affected veins:

• Phlebotonic effect - increase in vein tone.But don't 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 (which is called phlebosclerosis), but the structure of the muscle layer is also damaged.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, 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.
• Compression of the vein, due to which the process of its deformation is somewhat restrained.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, manifested mainly in local herbal medicine for trophic ulcers and eczematous venous dermatitis.But without eliminating venostasis (the key 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 only temporarily decrease, and the 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 medical purposes.Recommendations for the use of honey and propolis as poultices 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 vulnerable blood vessels.

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

Apitherapy is a classic folk method of treating varicose veins of the legs, let's consider the expected effect and the possibility of its occurrence:

• It improves tissue trophism and provides them with vitamins and microelements contained in honey.In reality, there is no improvement - the penetration of the components through the skin is insignificant to be able to talk about a significant therapeutic effect.In addition, the 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 poultices.The highly digestible carbohydrates of this bee product can become fertile ground for opportunistic microorganisms.This can lead to a completely opposite effect, especially in conditions of skin dysbiosis that occurs with varicose veins and on the background of a drop in local immunity.
• Anti-inflammatory effect of honey poultices.Yes, honey can reduce the severity of non-specific inflammation.However, with varicose veins, key changes occur on the wall of the subcutaneous vessel, and biologically active substances are still insufficiently absorbed through the skin.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.
• Fight against thrombosis (with apitoxin therapy), which is explained by the presence of a substance similar to hirudin in bee venom.Trying to use this effect, apitherapists often plant bee stings on areas of veins affected by thrombophlebitis.In some cases, it actually activates thrombolysis (resorption of a blood clot).But such a rather aggressive and not completely 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 to inflamed areas 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 accompanied by inflammation and swelling, which worsens existing disorders.Wounds created after the removal of the sting serve as an entrance door for bacteria - the risk of developing erysipelas and other very undesirable infectious complications.
• Restoration of vein walls under the influence of bee venom.The peptides and other substances it contains, with repeated injections, change all the tissues in the area of inflammation.The skin thickens, the subcutaneous tissue becomes rougher, the walls of subcutaneous vessels thicken, and varicose veins become less noticeable.But this does not mean that uneven phlebosclerosis and nodular deformities of the veins that arise on 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 full of the development of infectious complications.It will not be possible to restore the vein walls 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 been used since ancient times in the treatment of diseases of the blood and blood vessels.The risk of thrombosis is reduced and the pain is temporarily reduced.

Leech treatment (hirudotherapy) is a popular method of treating varicose veins and other vascular diseases, it eliminates symptoms, improves tissue trophism, but the effect is time-limited:

• 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 enzyme collagenase and apyrase with disaggregation properties.But the leech cannot act on blood clots that already exist in the veins and does not reduce the likelihood of thromboembolism in thrombophlebitis.In addition, the proteins that come from her saliva break down quite quickly, so hirudotherapy cannot be expected to have a long-term antithrombotic effect.
• Blood sucking by leech reduces intravascular pressure.This relief of local blood flow is temporary and is not able to free the patient from venous stagnation with varicose veins.
• Some substances in leech saliva have a vasodilating effect and lead to the expansion of small blood vessels.In some cases, it helps improve microcirculation.Venous insufficiency caused by varicose veins is accompanied by excessive extension of the end parts of the venous network due to blood stagnation.Therefore, additional expansion of small blood vessels may not have the best effect on the state of the microvascular network.With spider veins, this effect of using 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 because of the high probability of complications - erysipelas.

Venous congestion that develops in varicose veins leads to nutritional disorders of all tissues of the extremities, 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 leeches further disrupts the functioning of the skin barrier.And a gaping wound after its separation can even become an entrance gate for pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria.And the most likely infectious complication of hirudotherapy will be erysipelas.In addition, the proteins that come from leech saliva 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.It increases the risk of infectious dermatitis and erysipelas.

How to deal with the disease?

Any conservative treatment of 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!

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

• Thrombosis of superficial and deep veins with possible development of thromboembolism.Migrating blood clots close the arteries, which can lead to myocardial infarction, stroke and dysfunction of many organs.Pulmonary embolism is one of the most deadly conditions.
• Trophic ulcer, prone to chronicity and recurrence.
• Venous eczema is a severe long-term dermatitis of an infectious-allergic basis.It significantly worsens the quality of life and can be complicated by erysipelas.
• Spontaneous rupture of varicose veins with risk of blood loss.

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

Currently, patients have the option of choosing equally effective minimally invasive intravenous interventions instead of classic surgeries.This includes:

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

The treatment method is selected according to the indications, taking into account the stage of varicose veins and the presence of accompanying 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.