While individuals who suffer from varicose veins may want to take nutritional supplements such as vitamin C to keep the problem from becoming more apparent, researchers have found a new way to minimize their appearance.

Scientists from the National Physical Laboratory have discovered that using light emitted from an intense-pulsed light (IPL) hair reduction system can be a safe way to reduce the appearance of varicose veins, which can be a very noticeable problem.

The light procedure is virtually painless and does not require any surgery, many individuals who have problems with unwanted hair or varicose veins seek out the treatment as an effective way of providing a solution.

When the treatment first came to light, it was usually administered by professionals. However, the growing demand has left the market open for an at-home device that individuals can use at their own discretion. Scientists have recently deemed the home grooming device to be safe for usage.

While these devices have a lower amount of light energy than a salon version, they can still reduce the appearance of unwanted imperfections on the skin.

Scientists Deem Varicose Veins Light Treatment to be Safe

By Donna Parker • Mar 19th, 2010

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Varicose Veins – EXERCISE FOR VARICOSE VEIN PREVENTION

The last several postings have discussed exercising as a prevention and treatment for spider veins and varicose veins. If you have varicose veins you will relate to the question asked and answered below regarding varicose veins.
Question
I have a few varicose veins on my leg. Will exercise make them bigger or cause any other problems?
I use the gym regularly and am wondering if pounding my legs is bad for me. I am also concerned that they may be caused by the Pill.
Answer
I don’t think exercise will make your varicose veins worse. Standing for long periods without exercise doesn’t help, but exercise actually improves the circulation through your legs.
Blood goes into your legs via your arteries, and returns to the heart through your veins. Valves in the veins stop the blood going the wrong way.
Varicose veins occur when the valves don’t work and the veins stretch and become prominent. I think exercise will only help, not hinder. Wearing some sort of support to your legs also helps the venous blood return from your legs.
It is difficult to be certain about the role of the Pill and varicose veins, but the literature does not mention specifically that they are made worse by the Pill.
There is a very small risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) on the Pill, and this may be slightly increased in women with varicose veins. Your high level of activity, however, would ensure against this.
Yours sincerely
Dr Keith Barnard, GP – http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ate/womenshealth/207276.html

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Exercise for Varicose Veins – Exercise for Health and Relief
We have been writing about exercising for varicose vein relief and treatment as well as prevention of varicose veins. This aspect of varicose veins and spider veins has more written information provided below via an article by: http://www.varicosevein-help.com/varicose-veins-exercise.html
Varicose veins, swollen and enlarged veins appearing especially on the lower limbs, in the groin area and sometimes showing up as hemorrhoids, are not totally preventable. However, by improving circulation and muscle tone and maintaining a healthy weight, the risks of developing more serious complications can be averted. The common and constant swelling and discomfort of varicose veins can also be addressed without medication by incorporating some exercise into your life.

Try These for Fun & Benefit
One of the causes of varicose veins as well as deep vein thrombosis is lack of movement. By getting into motion and moving those legs, the effects of varicose veins can be lessened appreciably. Try incorporating some of the following into your daily routine to not only aid in the relief of varicose veins, but to enhance your sense of well-being and health.

How about a walk around the block? Twenty minutes of walking, as quickly as is comfortable will improve blood circulation to the legs.
Bicycling is also an excellent way to get the legs moving and it’s easy on the knees.
Swimming is perhaps one of the best exercises because, along with getting a great leg workout, your legs are at the same level as your heart so the pooling of blood in the legs is avoided.
While sitting, straighten your legs and rotate your feet in either direction in small circles then point and flex your feet and bend and flex your legs.
It isn’t always a good idea to do high-impact exercises such as running since it may make you uncomfortable. The idea is to get some exercise, move your legs and still feel good when you’re finished. Standing for long periods of time is actually not good for the veins, circulation is enhanced by movement.
Keep Those Legs Moving to Help Prevent Varicose Veins
Varicose veins are treated by leg exercise which not only helps varicose veins, but also aids in the prevention of spider veins. Exercising regularly relieves aching in varicose veins and helps to reduce them. You might also try these exercises as a natural treatment to encourage good vein health.
Calf stretching can be done by simply standing on a step and dropping your heels below the height of the step. Hold on to a banister or balance against a wall. About 40 repetitions will encourage good strength in your calves – the muscles which act as pumps, pumping blood from the lower extremities to the heart. Walking on your tiptoes around the house and then walking on just your heels for a little while are also excellent ways to promote strength.

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MORE ABOUT VARICOSE VEINS: Exercise for Varicose Veins Treatment
Varicose Veins Treatment – Exercise Ideas
Yesterday we posted information about whether or not varicose veins could be treated or prevented by exercise. Here is more information about prevention of varicose and spider veins with specific exercise ideas.

If you are a woman with varicose veins you may be concerned about exercising. Is exercising going to create more varicose vein or spider vein issue? Some woman believe exercising will could make the problem worse. That is not correct. Exercises actually improve the blood circulation through your legs. Any exercises involving legs are good to prevent spider veins, the best and most efficient is exercising the lower calf muscles. Swimming, walking, bicycling, jogging, aerobics, step aerobics – if you do something from the list regularly, this is already varicose veins prevention. If you already have varicose veins, moderate leg exercises help relieve varicose veins and reduce the aching associated with them. The following exercises improve your leg strength and muscle tone, help promote circulation and, thus, help prevent and relieve varicose veins.
Exercise #1. Calf Stretching – You will need to use an aerobic step, or a low bench, or something stable, raised and firm. Stand on the step with both feet. Your heels should extend over the edge of the step. Raise yourself up on your toes and then lower your heels down below the step. Do this exercise close to a wall to hold on to balance. Make about 40 repetitions. This exercise stretches the back of your calf muscles.
Varicose Vein Exercise #2. Pedaling – Lie on the floor on your back with hands out to the sides or beneath the buttocks. Lift your legs off the floor and pedal them, as if you were riding a bicycle. If you hold your legs low, you also work on your abdominals.

Varicose Vein Exercise #3. Tip-toeing – Walk on tip-toes, when you are working around the house. This exercise also stretches the calves.

Varicose Vein Exercise #4. Walk on Heels – This exercise is also simple and can be done at home while clearing up, but is effective for calve muscle strength. Just walk on your heels around the house.

Varicose Vein Exercise #5. Leg Lifting – Lie down on the floor on your back with hands out to the sides or beneath the buttocks. Press your lower back and buttocks against the floor. Lift one straight leg and hold it elevated perpendicular to the floor. Hold this pose as long as you can and lay the leg down. Repeat this motion with the other leg. This exercise improves the circulation in your legs.

Varicose Vein Exercise #6. Knee Bends – Lie on the floor on your back. Pull one knee into your chest. During this hold onto your leg behind the knee. While your leg is kept in this position, point and flex your foot. All the motions should be done slowly and forcefully. After several foot motions do the same with the opposite leg. This exercise makes the muscles of the entire leg work.

Resting after Varicose Vein Leg Exercises – It is recommended to elevate the legs about 6 to 12 inches above the heart after doing these or any other leg exercises, especially exercises involving the large muscles of the lower body. Independent from if you have just done exercises, or walked a lot, or had to stand for a long time, do this to prevent and relieve varicose veins. You can also do the following: lie down on the floor with your buttocks almost touching a wall. Keep your legs in an elevated pose resting against the wall. This provides a good rest for your legs.

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EXERICISE AS A TREATMENT FOR VARICOSE VEINS IS DISCUSSED BELOW IN:
“Is Exercise the Best Treatment for Varicose Veins?”
FIND A VEIN TREATMENT SPECIALIST AT OUR DIRECTORY SITE:
www.1800varicose.com
Veins are supposed to contain valves that keep blood from backing up. When the valves cannot close properly, veins become varicose, blood backs up, causing the veins to widen and look like blue snakes underneath the skin. Since varicose veins swell because blood pools in them, the best treatment is to empty blood from the veins. When you exercise, your leg muscles alternately contract and relax squeezing blood back toward the heart, so running, walking, cycling, skiing, skating and dancing are ideal treatments, while standing or sitting increase blood pooling and widen the veins.

Varicose veins can be caused by a genetic weakness in the valves or an obstruction of blood flow, such as by obesity, pregnancy, tumors, clots or heart disease. Superficial varicose veins that you can see can cause a feeling of heaviness or aching, but they are rarely painful. Most varicose veins are best left alone. If you develop severe pain, usually in the veins in your calf muscles, you have to worry about a clot and should check with your doctor. Otherwise, exercise is the best medicine for varicose veins.

If you have varicose veins, you may benefit from wearing support hose when you stand around, but not when you exercise.

Veins in your legs carry blood up toward your heart. When you stand up, gravity pulls blood down to your feet. Support hose squeeze the legs and help to prevent blood from pooling in veins and distending them.

When you exercise, the force of your contracting muscles keeps blood from pooling so you don’t need support hose. The pumping action of your leg muscles during exercise exerts such a strong force to empty your veins, that you don’t need support hose. In hot weather, the support hose can act as a barrier to prevent heat loss. Your body temperature may rise and you may tire earlier. If you have varicose veins, support hose help to keep the veins from swelling when you stand, but it is unlikely that they are needed during exercise.
See more at: http://ezinearticles.com/?Varicose-Veins:-Exercise-is-the-Best-Treatment&id=167360

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Treatment and prevention entail the following common sense, self help approach. Treatment includes raising your legs when sitting. This may help reduce the pain, swelling and may help prevent getting varicose veins at all. When sitting watching TV or reading or even at the computer, try to remember to put your feet up on a chair or footstool, the higher the better. This will help the blood to recirculate back into the body. Another thing that can be done is to get custom fitting support stockings. While they are not very attractive, you could wear them under pants and when at home. Prevention of varicose veins includes the following recommendations:
-take breaks from standing, especially if you have a job where you stand all day, mostly in one place. Raise your feet on a stool, one at a time, switch sides and move around when you can. Walking is better than standing still all day.
-wear your support stockings or pantyhose
-avoid wearing tight knee hose or knee socks, and tight girdles which all impair circulation.
-take short walks during the day; walk on your lunch break. Do calf pumping and make circles with your ankles during the day. -avoid sitting with your legs crossed
- each day lie on the floor or bed near a wall. Put your feet up on the wall. Lie there for at least fifteen minutes each day. This will allow some or most of the blood that has pooled down in your legs to move out of the legs and back into the body. It is also very relaxing and destressing. Take a catnap or read a book while doing this exercise, if you like.

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VARICOSE VEINS : I HAVE VARICOSE VEINS. WHAT CAUSES VARICOSE VEINS AND SPIDER VEINS.
Learn more about this disorder by reading below – VARICOSE VEIN CAUSES
What are varicose veins and who gets them? Well, you may have them yourself, but why? What causes varicose veins in the first place? Varicose veins are defined as swollen, distended veins, usually occurring in the legs. They are quite unsightly as I am sure you already know, but more than that, they can be painful.

Varicose Vein Causes – the first step to understanding this disorder is to review the function of the normal functioning of the circulatory system of your body. You have “arteries” which provide oxygen rich blood to the entire body through the function of your heart. Then veins bring unoxyegenated blood back up to the heart. Under normal conditions, the actions of your leg muscles causing movement help circulate the blood through the veins and back toward the heart. But with varicose veins, the walls of the veins in the legs are weakened. Usually, these veins are superficial, or near the skin’s surface where they protrude and are more easily visible. You also have tiny valves inside the veins, just as you have valves inside your heart. With varicose veins, the valves inside the veins are damaged and do not function properly. Gravity can then cause the blood to “pool” in the vein, which means the blood stays in the veins, becoming stagnant there and making them bulge out. Varicose veins can also occur in deeper veins under the skin.
Varicose veins like these can lead to venous thrombosis, which is the medical term for a blood clot. When this occurs, circulation becomes poor. They may lead to swollen ankles, feet and legs, scaly, itchy skin, darkening of the skin, changes in temperature in the legs and feet and may even cause sores and ulcers on the skin to develop. These are called venous stasis ulcers. Blood clots in the legs can be dangerous. Symptoms of venous thrombosis, or blood clots in the legs include, but are not limited to swelling, redness and tenderness along a vein.
The longer a person stands without moving, the more the blood pools in the veins. As more blood pools in the veins, the walls of the veins stretch. Symptoms of varicose veins are the appearance of bluish, soft, and sometimes tender lumps and bulging veins under the surface of the skin. These can be painful at times, but not always. Very tiny veins of the legs can also dilate. These are called spider veins because of the spider web pattern they form. They are actually not related to real varicose veins at all.
It is suspected that varicose veins run in families. Simply looking at the legs for deep veins can make a diagnosis, a Venogram can be taken, which is an x-ray of the blood vessels. Doppler ultrasound may also be used to study the blood flow. This is less invasive than the venogram because for the venogram an i.v. must be started to inject dye and with the ultrasound it is simply like any other ultrasound, no needles are necessary.
See our next posting for treatment and prevention of varicose veins.

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VARICOSE VEINS – USING COMPRESSION STOCKINGS
This abstract appeared in http://www.medscape.com as an abstract relating to varicose veins. It is rather technical. But gives more than superficial treatment to explaining why compression stocking are used as a non-surgical option for the treatment of varicose veins

Background: The superficial venous system is most often affected by varicose veins. Graduated compression stockings (GCSs) are a recognized effective nonsurgical option to prevent and treat lower limb varicose veins.
Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the cutaneous surface pressure exerted by GCSs along the courses of main superficial veins of the lower limb.
Methods and Materials: Cutaneous surface pressures along the paths of long and short saphenous veins applied by different kinds of GCSs were examined by using pressure sensors (Tekscan, Inc., Boston, Mass) and a multichannel monitoring system in 6 healthy women tested in 7 different body postures.
Results: Tested location, body posture, and types of compression stocking significantly influenced the cutaneous pressure along the main superficial veins (P < 0.001). Cutaneous pressure along the short saphenous veins had better pressure gradient performance when subjects were standing. The pressures applied at the popliteal fossa and Achilles tendon were significantly influenced by body postures (P < 0.001). Insufficient pressure and reversed pressure gradients were exerted on the regions along the long saphenous veins. Flexion exercise of the joints and muscle activity of the lower limbs helped provide more support and compression on the superficial venous system.
Conclusion: Graduated compression stockings exerted significant influences on the cutaneous pressure distribution and magnitudes along the path of main superficial veins. Different testing locations and body postures induced variations on the pressure performances. Proper lower limb exercises are still recommended when wearing compression stockings.

Introduction
Chronic venous insufficiency in the lower limb is most commonly due to varicose veins, which appear as dilated, elongated, or tortuous superficial veins. Despite the considerable number of studies conducted on the etiology of varicose veins, the cause remains elusive.[1-5] However, it is generally recognized that occupation and posture are the major associated factors[1-8] and contribute significantly to the effects of raised venous pressure and incompetence of primary structures in the vein wall and valves.[9-11] People who spend most of their working day in a standing or sedentary position (eg, nursing staff, flight attendants, teachers, sales assistants) are considered to be at a high risk for varicose vein development. The development of varicose veins usually occurs in the superficial venous system of the lower limbs, especially in the long saphenous veins (LSVs) and their tributaries.[12] The short saphenous veins (SSVs) and their tributaries can also become varicose, but this occurs less often. The reported incidence of varicose veins in adults varies from 7% to 40% in men and from 14% to 51% in women.[1,6,8] If the condition cannot be prevented or treated in a timely manner, varicose veins can lead to more serious morbidities and medical complications.

Varicose veins can lead to thrombophlebitis (due to inflammation or blockage of the vein) and subsequent bleeding of the swollen veins near the skin surface.[5,12] Other complications, such as edema, skin pigmentation, varicose eczema, and venous ulceration, are mainly a result of venous hypertension.[12-15] However, the presence of varicose veins does not indicate that complications will inevitably occur. For example, 40% of limbs with ulceration caused by superficial venous incompetence do not have varicose veins.[12] The exact mechanisms that cause venous ulceration are still not fully understood; however, overlying large varicosities, low oxygen levels, and stagnant blood are considered to be possible causes.[15]

Compression therapy is an essential part of the prevention and treatment of venous diseases that affect the lower limbs. Graduated compression stockings (GCSs) provide a convenient method of maintaining pressure while allowing ambulation. Many studies have demonstrated that proper compression magnitudes and gradients can provide support to the superficial venous system and accelerate lower limb blood circulation.[16-18]

However, GCS therapy has not always been as effective in clinical practice as it has been in research studies.[19,20] In the authors’ previous study,[21] the general skin pressure distribution applied by GCSs was determined and analyzed. The authors also considered it necessary to further investigate the skin pressure at the main local regions, which would help to comprehensively understand the compression performances of GCSs and improve their medical functions. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the cutaneous pressure exerted by different graduated elastic compression stockings along the main superficial veins of the lower limb and to discuss the preventive and protective effects of compression stockings on varicose veins.

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We found these tips online which discuss how to reduce varicose veins. Some of these ideas are, in addition to varicose vein reduction methods, simply good health ideas.

How to Prevent Varicose Veins:
Varicose Vein – Help Idea – Take weight off your legs to prevent varicose veins by wearing compression stockings. This will help improve circulation.

Varicose Vein – Help Idea – This is smart for all aspects of our health – reduce your weight and improve your general health while helping prevent varicose veins. You will take weight and strain off your legs. They are a major cause of varicose veins.
Varicose Vein – Help Idea – Exercising as much as you can. This will help reduce weight and promote improved circulation. Try biking, walking, swimming or any activity to help reduce or prevent varicose veins and spider veins.
Varicose Vein – Help Idea – Don’t smoke. Health, circulation and thus varicose veins are caused or contributed to by smoking. So quit smoking and prevent varicose veins, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc.
Varicose Vein – Help Idea – When you cross your legs you restrict circulation to your legs and stress is caused, contributing to varicose veins.

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QUESTION: During my physical today, I told my doctor that I think I pulled muscles in my thigh, near my knee, last week, when doing squats. He looked at my leg, there are three lines, swollen, going on an angle, downward to the inside of my thigh. He said that I had swollen varicose veins – not muscle sprains. They hurt a lot – especially when I squat down or try to put on my shoe. Any idea as to what to do about the pain? And can you tell me, why do they hurt? I am going to see a cardiovascular doctor in a couple of weeks. But it hurts NOW!
Thanks for the help.
ANSWER: Hi Thomas and thanks for writing,
Wearing compression stockings is often the first approach to try before moving on to other treatments. Compression stockings are worn all day long. They steadily squeeze your legs, helping veins and leg muscles move blood more efficiently. The amount of compression varies by type and brand.
Some people think of compression stockings as being uncomfortable and unstylish, but their negative fashion reputation is no longer deserved. Stockings today come in a variety of strengths, styles and colors. With the variety offered, you’re likely to find a stocking that you’re comfortable wearing.
Compression stockings are sold at most pharmacies and medical supply stores. Prices vary. Prescription-strength stockings also are available.
When purchasing compression stockings, make sure that they fit properly. Using a tape measure, you or your pharmacist can measure your legs to ensure you get the right size and fit according to the size chart found on the stocking package. Compression stockings should be strong but not necessarily tight. If you have weak hands or arthritis, getting these stockings on may be difficult. There are devices to make putting them on easier. from: http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00256.html
I hope this helps and all my best,
Expert: Margot RN BScN GNC
Varicose Veins – To find a physician in your to treat varicose veins and spider veins see www.1800varicose.com

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