How to Control Leg Swelling from Vein Disease
When you have vein disease, one of the bothersome symptoms can be leg swelling. Not only can leg swelling be uncomfortable, but it can also make your clothing or shoes tighter and possibly interfere with proper blood flow. Thankfully, there are some things you can do to help control the leg swelling caused by vein disease.
To alleviate or prevent leg swelling caused by vein disease, it’s important to limit the amount of time spent on your feet, use compression socks, and elevate your legs each day. Anything that takes some of the pressure off your leg veins can help relieve leg swelling from vein disease.
To help you control leg swelling that you may be suffering from due to vein disease, we’ll explain why vein disease can cause the legs to swell and some lifestyle changes you can make to alleviate the swelling to mitigate its effect on your health and quality of life.
Why Does Vein Disease Cause Your Legs to Swell?
Vein disease brings with it a variety of symptoms that range from unsightly yet harmless to painful and dangerous. Leg swelling can be frustrating because of the enlarged appearance of the leg or legs. It helps to understand what is happening in your legs when you have vein disease that causes them to swell.
Here’s an overview of how vein disease can lead to leg swelling:
- Weakening of the leg veins
- Impaired blood circulation in the legs and feet
- Overwhelming pressure on the leg veins
- Edema can set in
Weakening of the legs veins
Is one of the core issues when you have vein disease. Weaker veins are less efficient veins and can make you more susceptible to further progression in the vein disease.
Impaired blood circulation in the legs and feet
Is a common problem with vein disease. Once the veins in your legs have weakened, your circulation can become more sluggish and your leg veins may struggle to pump blood back up the heart efficiently.
Overwhelming pressure on the leg veins
Occurs when your blood can’t flow up the veins properly. Instead of circulating back up to heart as usual, the blood starts to pool in your leg veins, increasing pressure on the vein walls.
Edema can set in
When the excessive pressure on the vein walls leads to fluid leaking out into your tissues. The additional fluid fills the tissues, making them feel tighter and stretching them like an overfilled water balloon. When your legs are swollen in this way due to vein disease, the condition is referred to as edema.
How Can You Minimize Leg Swelling from Vein Disease?
Leg swelling from vein disease can be unsightly as well as painful. The swelling is generally more noticeable later in the day, although some people do experience it all day long. Preventative measures are best for minimizing leg swelling and can help keep your vein disease from progressing further.
Here’s what you can do to try to keep your leg swelling under control:
- Keep up with your medical appointments
- Avoid being on your feet for hours on end
- Do foot and ankle stretches throughout the day
- Wear compression stocking or compression socks
- Elevate your legs each day
Keep up with your medical appointments
Notify your doctor of any changes in your symptoms so they can design the appropriate treatment plan for you based on your vein disease. Most likely, they will try to treat any underlying causes of your vein disease, then have you follow some of the home treatments listed below. The goal is generally to stabilize the vein disease and prevent it from getting worse.
Avoid being on your feet for hours on end
If possible as this can put more pressure on the vein walls in the legs. On that note, sitting for long periods can also be problematic. Being in either position for too long can encourage blood to pool in your legs and feet which causes more swelling.
Doing foot and ankle stretches throughout the day
Can help promote better blood circulation by encouraging blood to pump back up to the heart rather than pooling in your legs. If you must sit all day for your job, take short breaks periodically to get up and walk around, even if it’s just a trip to the restroom. If you absolutely cannot get up to take a break, then rotate your ankles every 30-60 minutes followed by pointing and flexing your toes to get the blood pumping back up your legs. If you must stand in one place for long, you could try doing these exercises while standing. You may need something to hold onto for balance if you’re doing the exercises while standing up.
Wear compression stockings or compression socks
That go up to your knees to help control swelling during the day. Your doctor can prescribe a medical grade compression stocking that provides maximum compression. However, you can also purchase compression socks online. These support your legs by keeping the veins compressed tightly, preventing the veins from being able to swell and expand. These are especially important to wear when you’ll be on your feet a lot. Compression stockings and socks can help prevent the heaviness and fatigue you may feel in your legs and feet later in the day, which can happen to anyone but is certainly more pronounced in those with vein disease.
Elevate your legs each day
To help blood flow back up your legs. If you’re able to prop your legs up on a chair or ottoman while working, do this when possible. Otherwise, try to prop your legs up on a pillow while relaxing on your couch in the evening or when you go to bed.
What Should You Do if You’re Strugging to Get Your Leg Swelling Under Control?
The above lifestyle changes can help you get your leg swelling under control while also relieving you of the pain, achiness, and heaviness associated with vein disease. However, if you follow all your doctor’s recommendations and you still notice that your symptoms are becoming more severe, it may be time to consider medical procedures.
If the above home treatment methods or any doctor prescribed medications have not provided adequate relief from leg swelling, your doctor will discuss the variety of vein treatments available to you. Medical procedures can help improve your symptoms by closing or removing the problematic veins.
Summary
Now you know what causes leg swelling from vein disease and what lifestyle changes you can make to prevent or reduce the swelling and discomfort. Awareness of what makes you more susceptible to leg swelling can help you make the changes you need to promote the health of your veins. As much as home treatments can help reduce or precent leg swelling, they are not able to cure vein disease.
While a healthy diet and lifestyle are extremely helpful for decreasing the severity of leg swelling, it’s important to seek out professional care if the problem persists. If you’re experiencing symptoms from leg swelling that don’t respond to diet and lifestyle changes, contact us today to book an appointment.
