How to Improve Venous Insufficiency

Venous insufficiency is a very common disease. The prevalence of Chronic Venous Disease in the UAE was found to be between 60%-64%. The most common leg symptoms reported were leg pain (72%), heavy legs (44%), night cramps (44%) and sensation of swelling (23%).¹ It is a disease that worsens over time and must be treated from the outset to alleviate its symptoms, as well as to prevent its progression and complications.

You can make some changes in your daily life to improve venous insufficiency in the legs and to achieve greater effectiveness of treatments.  First and foremost, it is essential to change your lifestyle, particularly if you are pregnant.³ All actions should focus on improving venous reflux.

• Elevating the legs: pain and other symptoms of venous insufficiency are caused by venous hypertension. Elevating the legs for 30 minutes above heart level, preferably 3 or 4 times a day, reduces venous hypertension, improves skin microcirculation and reduces venous ulcers and swelling.³ Intramuscular pressure will decrease, thus helping to alleviate the pain caused by blood stasis in the veins.³

• Exercise: the calf muscles act by pumping blood back to the heart. For this reason, physiotherapy and exercises are aimed at restoring the function of the calf muscles.³ The ankles are also involved in venous circulation as their movements will increase blood flow. It is advisable to flex the ankles and toes to effectively accelerate the speed of blood.³

• Compression stockings: these exert maximum pressure on the ankles that travels upwards to the thighs.¹ In addition, they also exert an external force that promotes drainage of swelling in the legs.³ To be effective, they must be worn every day from morning to night. It is important to select the degree of compression that is suitable for the corresponding level of severity of venous insufficiency.³

Products for venous insufficiency

In addition to leading a healthy lifestyle, there are numerous venoactive substances which are useful in the treatment of venous insufficiency. These include a variety of active ingredients, some of natural origin, which have many different actions against swelling and other symptoms.⁴ They increase venous tone, act on the inflammatory process in the valves and venous wall, reduce swelling, relieve pain, improve lymphatic drainage and reduce blood viscosity. There are numerous products on the market, many of which are a combination of several active components. Among these active components, saponins and flavonoids stand out.⁴ In their purified and micronised form, they are highly recommended as they have demonstrated a high effectiveness in the treatment of venous insufficiency.⁴

Is there a cure for venous insufficiency?

Although venous insufficiency in the legs is a chronic problem, treatment should be started as soon as possible to alleviate the symptoms and to avoid progression.² Above all, it is necessary to make changes in daily habits such as elevating the legs, exercising or wearing compression stockings.²