Myths about varicose veins – a look at common misunderstandings about varicose veins
There are very few pathological processes as common or as common as varicose veins that affect up to 1 in 4 adults at some point in their lives. Although some people simply seek treatment because of the unattractive appearance of the veins; Varicose veins can cause a variety of symptoms, ailments, and problems if not treated effectively.
There are many common myths about varicose veins, including:
“The prevalence of varicose veins is higher in women than in men”
This myth is mainly the result of poor research methodology in which doctors simply counted the number of people who came to them without looking at the patients who did not go to the consultation. This meant that when examining the prevalence of varicose veins in 1990, women suffer more than men because they tended to care more about their health in general and were more willing to consult their GP. .
Recent research conducted in Edinburgh in the late 1990s when people were arrested on the street and the number of people with signs and symptoms was counted showed that this was statistically the case. No real difference between the number of men and the Number of women suffering from the complaint.
“Pregnancy Causes Varicose Veins”
This myth suggests that many women do not suffer from symptoms before their pregnancy, but that the veins have developed during or after their pregnancy.
Statistical information that shows an equal prevalence between men and women suggests that this could be wrong. If pregnancy causes varicose veins, men should not have the same prevalence of the disease as women.
If it makes sense if pregnancy causes varicose veins, more women will be seen for varicose veins during their reproductive years, but that’s not the case.
Studies conducted in Chester in the late 1990s with duplex ultrasound showed that only women who had lost their valve function before pregnancy continued to have varicose veins after pregnancy.
Women increase their blood volume during pregnancy by 40%, which, together with hormones during pregnancy that allow the tissue to stretch, means that varicose veins that were not visible before pregnancy are now visible.
The only exception to this rule is pelvic congestion and women who continue to have normal vaginal delivery of their baby. In this group of 2% of women during pregnancy, the obviously abnormal veins such as the vulva, vaginal or leg veins are due to a higher problem in the pelvis, namely the ovarian veins, the pelvic veins or the iliac veins as the cause of the problem.
“Varicose veins are only cosmetic”
The visible varicose veins are usually blue or green and bulge through the skin of the leg.
Since these are the veins we see, people, including doctors, assume that these are the problems. In fact, it’s not the problem, it’s the result of an underlying source.
The underlying cause is that the leg muscle pump is not working effectively, and since it fails and worsens, varicose veins do the same. A simple analogy is to consider the leg as a weed. If you just cut off the top of the weed, it will come back from time to time. Varicose veins are the tip of the weed. If you remove them, they keep coming back. To treat weeds and varicose veins, you need to treat the root of the problem, the underlying problem of the shortened veins.
“Varicose veins occur again, so no varicose veins need to be treated.”
Varicose veins have often been referred to as cosmetic problems and a minor problem, and we now know that this is wrong in most cases.
There are several reasons why varicose veins can reappear:
Inadequate treatment techniques
Inadequate evaluation
Consultants with limited expertise
We know that the only accurate way to assess varicose veins is to do a full-color duplex ultrasound to map the veins and their problems.
The old method of assessing varicose veins was to look only at the leg and guess the veins that are causing the problem. The shortcomings are obvious since the bad vein has been treated many times.
With color Doppler ultrasound techniques we can now not only with Prec