Hello, I'm Doctor Alexandre Amato, vascular surgeon at Instituto Amato, and today I'm going to talk about natural remedies and varicose veins. Do they work? Well, we've already talked about this subject in some other ways here on the channel, but now I'm going to be more direct, I'm not going to go so in-depth into some of the biochemical aspects of what's happening.
So, if you like a cup of tea to help with varicose veins, or if you like a plant, write down below and I'd like to know, because I get my ideas for the next videos from the comments. I may not be able to respond to everyone, but I am reading all the comments that are made. So, first of all, I have to explain what varicose veins are.
Varicose veins are those dilated veins that appear on the thighs and legs. They are aesthetically uncomfortable, but that's not all. Dilated veins are the result of venous insufficiency, that is, the body is not capable of pumping this blood back into circulation and it ends up being dammed down there, or retained, and ends up causing this dilation.
Normally, when you have venous insufficiency, there is a valve problem in the veins. Then, the valves that should open and close directing this flow upwards stop working properly, and then the blood flow ends up returning to the lower limb. And then it causes what people feel, which is pain, heaviness, tiredness, swelling in the legs, especially at the end of the day.
In the more advanced stages, there may be a wound, there may be spots, there may be a lot of lesions on the skin. Now, in the early stages, it may just be one or two holes that are more of an aesthetic nuisance than a health issue. So, let's make one thing clear from the beginning here.
There is no treatment, whether natural or non-natural, that restores the function of these venous valves. So, there is no surgery that can make this valve work again, but there is also no tea, no food, no exercise, there is nothing that can make these valves work again. Oh, calm down, how do you treat varicose veins if you can't make these valves work?
Simple! We remove these veins that are not working. As we have a very large venous network in the lower limbs, we can remove one or another vein that is diseased, and the others that are not diseased will reestablish the venous return function.
Now, when we talk about a natural treatment, we are not removing any vein, the vein is still there. So what can natural treatment do? It can alleviate symptoms, so this is real.
What I said about swelling, pain, tiredness, heaviness at the end of the day, these are venous symptoms. When we talk about a natural treatment relieving symptoms, it would be relieving all of these symptoms, or one or the other of those. So, I know everyone is waiting for the magic tea, the magic herbal medicine, but I'm going to talk about what's most important first.
Physical exercise, especially of the lower limbs, is where we reestablish the muscles that are responsible for pumping this blood back up. Imagine the following, imagine that you have a house, there is a water tank upstairs and there is a pipe taking the water up there. If there is a leak in that pipe, we can go there and fix that leak somehow.
The water will fall back into the water tank. But there is another way to solve this, which is to put a better bomb down there. This better pump will make the water reach the water tank.
It's more or less the same thing, so if we have a calf contracting well, pumping this blood upwards, we can rest assured that there is venous return. So there are people who sometimes have large, dilated, visible varicose veins, and have no symptoms. Why don't you have any symptoms?
Because the blood is still pumping well. Therefore, it is essential to include physical exercise aimed at the lower limbs in your life. It can be anything, a walk is accessible to everyone.
There is no excuse for not being able to pay for the gym. It's walking, cycling, running, all of this helps a lot. Another treatment that I will consider it natural and I'll explain why, it's elastocompression, elastic stockings.
Ah, but elastic stockings are not natural. Calm down there. So let me explain how we got there in elastic stockings.
It all started way back when an engineer noticed that when he entered the pool, his venous insufficiency symptoms improved. So he stayed in the pool and felt good. It reduced swelling, reduced tiredness, pain, weight, everything at the end of the day.
He started thinking, damn, what do I need to do to bring this well-being from the pool to outside the pool? Because I can't stay in the pool all the time. And to answer that, he said, wow, what in the pool is helping me?
And he discovered it was the water pressure. So when a person is in a swimming pool, there is gradual pressure. So the upper part of the body suffers a tiny pressure because of the water, but standing, down there, at the foot, the pressure is much higher.
So it's a gradual pressure that decreases, at the bottom it's high and decreases as it rises. So this pressure gradient ends up directing the venous flow upwards. And then he ended up creating the idea of graduated elastocompression.
These are compressive elastic stockings. You can't go around putting elastic stockings on everyone, because anyone who has an arterial disease, for example, can't wear elastic stockings as they could end up causing a tourniquet and worsening circulation. Now, for those who have varicose veins, this can help a lot, but it has to be recommended by a vascular surgeon.
Another aspect is diet and nutrition. Diet and healthy eating works in many ways. So, if you are obese, obesity makes your varicose veins worse.
So when I talk about diet, I'm talking about diet, closing your mouth so you don't gain weight, because that makes varicose veins worse in those who have heredity. But I'm also talking about the inflammatory aspect of food. So looking for more natural foods, less industrialized foods, getting rid of those foods that end up triggering inflammation in your body, will definitely help alleviate the symptoms.
I talk a lot about the anti-inflammatory diet, there's even my book on the anti-inflammatory diet here. It is not aimed at varicose veins, but it helps to reduce all these symptoms derived from inflammation, which it ends up confusing with the symptoms of varicose veins as well. Another natural way is to elevate your legs.
Have you ever stopped to think about why elevating your legs is recommended for those with varicose veins? Because of the force of gravity. So if we raise our legs, gravity will help pull the blood downwards, whereas if we are standing, it's not downwards that the blood has to go, it's upwards, so gravity will fight against it.
If we put our leg up, gravity helps, facilitating venous return. Obviously, putting the leg up, it helped with venous return. He stood up, ready, gravity is already fighting against him again.
So it is a temporary and momentary solution to alleviate the symptoms of varicose veins. This change in position also ends up relieving swelling, helping venous return, reducing swelling, reducing the amount of fluid, reducing the tension in the area that ends up causing symptoms at the end of the day. Do you have to wake up and put your leg up?
Not necessarily, because the vast majority of people wake up and were already sleeping with their leg up, or at least horizontal, and it's already deflated. Now, what many were waiting for was herbal medicine, right? Do little plants really help with varicose veins?
It has to be very clear that no little plant is going to make that valve work again. Now, some plants can reduce inflammation, reduce capillary permeability and end up relieving some symptoms. There are several that have already been studied, but some of them are even more studied.
I like, for example, horse chestnut. I have a whole video talking about horse chestnuts. There's a routine, it also helps a lot.
So, these herbs and supplements that are rich in flavonoids will also help reduce oxidative stress and damage to the vascular wall. Now, I suggest that it be recommended by the specialist, who is the vascular surgeon, specifically for each case, in your internship and in your possibilities. I've also seen a lot of people talking about essential oils.
Do essential oils help with varicose veins? Well, if we put it in a hierarchy, it's the one that will help the least, but it will have some small anti-inflammatory aspect. Don't expect any drastic or radical changes, but they can help a little in reducing inflammation and, by reducing inflammation, having a small relief from swelling.
Sometimes lifting your leg under the force of gravity is much more effective than this small relief. Did you like our video? Subscribe to our channel, click on the bell below, share with your friends and I'll put the next best video for you to watch.
