Tips to make earthworm legs thinner and more beautiful

Varicose veins of the lower limbs, commonly known as earthworm legs, are a common vascular disease with a relatively high incidence. About 100 million people in my country have varicose veins, and one in every five people has varicose veins. Varicose veins were originally an old age disease, common in patients who stand for a long time. Due to changes in the nature of work and people's lifestyles, varicose veins are now becoming more and more common among younger people, becoming a common problem for contemporary workers.

Long periods of sitting and inactivity in office work, coupled with long hours of outdoor hiking or cycling, may lead to poor blood return in the lower limbs and accumulation of venous blood, which will cause varicose veins. In mild cases, there will be red or purple bloodshot, and the superficial veins will be tortuous and dilated. In severe cases, it will cause darkening of the skin, erosion, and even ulceration. Due to its high incidence rate, it will bring a series of instabilities and pains to the patient's life. Such as pain, swelling, discomfort, cramps, itching, darkening of the skin, and the possibility of developing ulcers in the later stage. Therefore, it is very necessary to protect against varicose veins in the lower limbs.

Prone population

People who are most susceptible to this disease: those who sit or stand for long periods of time, cross their legs, or sit cross-legged, etc.

1. Closely related to occupation type: office workers who often sit or stand for long periods of time, counter staff, surgeons, teachers or airline attendants are all at high risk of developing varicose veins.

2. People who often have bad sitting habits, such as crossing their legs, sitting cross-legged when using the computer, women who often wear high heels, and people who do long-term excessive weight training, should be careful about varicose veins.

3. Other reasons: Congenital valvular insufficiency leading to poor venous return, obesity or long-term constipation leading to increased intra-abdominal pressure, and hormonal changes in women during pregnancy reducing the elasticity of veins, all of which may lead to varicose veins.

Causes

The incompetence of the venous valves in the lower extremities leads to venous hypertension, which is an important cause of varicose veins. The veins in healthy legs contain valves, which open and close to help blood flow back to the heart. They are one-way valves that allow venous blood to flow back in one direction. Under pathological conditions, when the venous valves in the lower extremities are incompetent and cannot perform their functions, venous blood flows back, the pressure in the distal venous cavity increases, and the veins dilate, causing blood to accumulate in the legs, thereby triggering a series of clinical symptoms of varicose veins.

In addition, congenitally weak venous walls or long-term standing work can also cause blood to accumulate in the veins of the lower limbs, causing increased intravenous pressure and resulting in tortuosity and dilation of the lower limb veins.

How to protect yourself

Varicose veins in the lower limbs not only affect the appearance, but also make people who love beauty dare not wear skirts or shorts in summer. They are often accompanied by soreness, swelling and heaviness in the lower limbs, and even lead to skin nutritional disorders, pigmentation, skin itching, thrombophlebitis, and ulcer formation. Therefore, scientific prevention of varicose veins to delay their development or prevent them from developing is an issue that we urgently need to pay attention to.

1. Avoid standing for a long time or lower limbs hanging down for a long time to avoid poor blood circulation. Do not stand or sit for a long time, which is not conducive to relieving the symptoms of varicose veins. Try to reduce the workload and avoid standing or lying in one position for a long time. For people who sit for a long time, it is recommended to stand up and stretch every half an hour, or do the movement of straightening and bending the dorsum of the foot. For people who stand for a long time, it is recommended to tiptoe and move the heels up and down to contract the calf muscles and help blood return.

2. Control your diet, a light and balanced diet is best, but also ensure adequate nutrition.

3. Weight management, control weight, avoid obesity, excessive obesity, especially abdominal enlargement, increases abdominal venous pressure, hinders the normal return of lower limb veins, and makes varicose veins more serious. In addition, do not lift heavy objects frequently.

4. Check your calves regularly to see if there is any swelling.

5. Wearing medical graduated decompression varicose vein socks can relieve the soreness and discomfort caused by varicose veins and promote venous return.

6. Keep warm and avoid catching cold.

7. Keep bowel movements smooth and reduce abdominal pressure.

8. Avoid high temperatures, such as soaking your feet in water that is too hot. Some patients with varicose veins are strictly prohibited from soaking their feet, as high temperatures can easily dilate blood vessels, thus aggravating the condition. At the same time, patients with varicose veins should not think that soaking in hot springs can relieve the numbness and discomfort caused by varicose veins, as soaking in hot springs will accelerate blood vessel dilation, making blood return worse, and blood accumulation may make the symptoms more severe.

9. Get rid of bad postures: Postures such as crossing your legs or legs as mentioned above will hinder blood circulation and aggravate varicose veins.

10. It is not recommended for women to wear very high heels. Studies have shown that when the heels of high heels exceed 7cm, the contraction force of the calf muscles is significantly weakened, leading to increased venous pressure and promoting the formation of varicose veins in the lower limbs.

11. At the same time, do proper exercise to enhance your physical fitness and strengthen your lower limbs.

Tips

1. After standing or sitting for 1 hour, you should get up and move around for 5 to 10 minutes to promote blood return and reduce venous pressure through the action of the calf muscle pump.

2. Avoid crossing your legs. Frequently crossing your legs will compress the veins in your lower limbs, which may lead to poor blood return in your lower limbs and increase the risk of varicose veins.

3. Wear varicose vein elastic stockings. Varicose vein elastic stockings can replace part of the calf muscles, promote blood return in the lower limbs, and assist in preventing or improving varicose veins. However, the choice of varicose vein stockings is also very particular. Choosing inappropriate stockings may aggravate the condition! Suitable elastic stockings require wrapping the calves, ankles, and heels but exposing the toes, and have a certain gradient pressure. Prevention of varicose veins: It is recommended to choose a pressure of 15~20mmHg. Treatment of varicose veins: It is recommended to choose 20~30mmHg. In addition, it is recommended to wear elastic stockings during the day and take them off at night.

Venous Exercise

Varicose veins in the lower limbs may not be obvious in the early stage. After standing or walking for a long time, the lower limbs feel heavy and swollen, the calves are sore and easy to fatigue, and the symptoms are mild in the morning and severe in the evening. Some patients have some atypical symptoms such as calf cramps. Our department has created a set of simple and easy-to-perform vein exercises, which are introduced as follows:

Keep the body upright, then quickly lift the heels of both feet, and then slowly lower them, do this for 5 to 10 minutes every day. The frequency is basically the same as the heart rate. The patient sits, bends the knees, crosses his hands and overlaps his feet, and uses the ankle joint as the axis to stretch and flex the ankle as much as possible, 15 times each time. The frequency is basically the same as the heart rate. The patient sits, bends the knees, crosses his hands and overlaps his feet, and uses the ankle joint as the axis to alternately move clockwise and counterclockwise, 15 times each time. The frequency is basically the same as the heart rate.

4. The patient sits down, clenches his hands into empty fists, and uses the wrist joint as the axis, tapping the lower limbs as if beating cotton. When inhaling, tap the lower limbs, and when exhaling, quickly leave, from the dorsum of the foot to the base of the thigh, and repeat 15 times. The frequency should be consistent with the patient's breathing rhythm.

5. The patient lies flat on his back, with his lower limbs using the hip and knee joints as the axis, and his feet pedaling in the air like a bicycle, repeating this 15 times. The frequency should be consistent with his breathing rhythm.

6. The patient lies flat on his back, relaxes his body, spreads his five fingers naturally, crosses his index fingers and places them on the center of his navel, takes a deep breath (and breathes in the air of nature and sinks it into Dantian), then slowly exhales (and expels the dirty air in the body out of the body), raises his middle fingers, and repeats 15 times. Key points: This action requires mental relaxation, moderate strength, and even rhythm.

These operations should be done step by step, with the range of activities from small to large, the number of times from few to many, the time from short to long, and the intensity from weak to increasing.

The above are some daily protective common sense for varicose veins. It is particularly important to note that, in addition to being an aesthetic issue, varicose veins in the lower limbs are mainly a chronic pathological process. With age, the disease progresses gradually, and the lower limbs are prone to weakness, pain, swelling, and itching. The skin of the calves may become thicker and darker, ulcerated and bleeding, and even thrombosis may form. Therefore, early protection is very important, and medical attention should be sought in a timely manner if necessary.

(The author Yang Xiao is an associate chief physician and master's supervisor in the Department of Vascular Surgery at Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine)