Some helpful information on preventing varicose veins during pregnancy
Pregnancy should be a time of pleasure and joyful anticipation, but this can sometimes be flawed by some of the side effects of pregnancy on the body. Learn how to go about preventing varicose veins.
One of these unpleasant side effects is the tendency for some women to develop varicose veins and this tendency can be greater if there is a history of varicose veins in the family.
During pregnancy, all the supporting tissues of the body softens and stretches in preparation for the delivery of the baby, however, this stretchiness affects the whole body, including the veins of the legs.
As the baby grows and you start to gain weight, this also adds pressure for the veins to work harder than usual, coping with the extra blood flow and returning the blood upwards to the heart against the force of gravity.
Leg muscles help to squeeze the blood in the leg veins back up towards the heart; the blood does not flow back downwards due to valves in the veins that help regulate the blood circulation.
Unfortunately, when tissues become soft and stretchy during expectancy, leg veins will often stretch enough to make the valves leaky and some back flow will occur with the blood circulation. The pressure on the valves in the veins then increases and causes the development of varicose veins.
Varicose Veins are enlarged dilated superficial veins just under the surface of the skin and usually appear in the legs. Some can start off as spider veins, like a small thin cluster of lines under the surface of the skin and can develop into larger blue lines or become bulbous if left untreated.
Some signs to look out for are itching, aching or heaviness in the feet and legs, discolouration of the skin and swelling in the feet and lower legs. Veins tend to be larger by the end of the day due to the upright posture of standing for long periods in certain jobs and domestic activities such as ironing, thus, symptoms may appear at their worst in the late afternoon or evening.
For years, physicians have recommended graduated compression therapy utilising support hosiery as a treatment for vein insufficiency. The hosiery is designed to compress the surface veins and accelerates blood flow velocity into the deep vein system, helping to relieve symptoms associated with vein insufficiency.
With thanks to Pebble UK for this content.
Learn more about compression hosiery and how it can help you during pregnancy.
For more on products to help prevent varicose veins, please go to Pebble‘s website.