How do you get rid of varicose veins and spider veins on your legs? these are the ten things that I do to deal with the ugly veins.
I love the cold days of fall and winter because I could do layering and lots of it. It´s a great time to showcase bright and neutral colored leggings, which free me from worrying how my legs look.
But now that summer is so round the corner, you´ll hear me talk about summer dresses and statement flat sandals with anticipation! Yet, behind my excitement towards baring more skin, lies a concern that´s often left unsaid. How do I mask my ugly varicose veins?
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My Struggle with Having Varicose Veins and Spider on My Legs
Since I was young, I´ve always taken good care of my legs. I knew that varicose veins and spider veins run in our family because I saw them on my mom´s legs. She has this green, protruding veins spiraling on the side of her left leg which is getting bigger and uglier every single year.
When I was twelve, I happened to catch a glimpse of the back of my legs on a mirror. I noticed a tiny yet protruding green vein on the back of my left knee. It´s exactly in the same leg and the same location as my mom´s big, ugly varicose. As you might guess, I was horrified.
I made it my goal to slow down the progress of my varicose veins. So I started looking for ways on how to get rid of varicose veins and spide veins on my legs.
It may be genetic, but I was determined not to have my mom´s ugly varicose veins. I was happy that my right leg didn´t have the green veins. But when I reached my early twenties, spider web veins started gracing the side of my right leg. They started small, very unnoticeable that even I wasn´t aware of them slowly appearing.
And then I got pregnant. All of the sudden they were there, the spider veins, as visible as the sun!
I´ve done all the precautions I´ve learned from my mom on how to reduce the growth of varicose veins. Add to that the techniques I learned from my own research. All of which we´re going to tackle in this article.
What causes spider veins on legs
Well, for once, it´s genetics. My mom got the ugly varicose veins so I got them too.
But my mom didn´t have spider webs. She had six pregnancies yet she doesn´t have the scary purple webs all over her legs. On the other hand, I only got pregnant once and my spider web veins are just exploding ever since.
So what causes spider veins on legs?
I noticed that the leg that I use more when I`m standing, the right leg, got spider web veins. So I did a little research and learned something interesting. That not shifting the weight of my body between two legs while standing, can cause damage to our veins. This is due to the weight that that leg is carrying for an extended period of time.
1. Don´t wash your legs when you´re too tired from the day´s work.
We ladies love to take a shower in the evening. But, washing your feet and legs after a whole day of standing and walking isn´t good for your legs. Not only does it speed up the growth of varicose veins, it also causes spider veins to appear.
Washing your feet immediately right after taking off your shoes is just as bad. Instead, take a couple of hours to relax your legs. You can do this by raising your legs up on the wall, or just raising them up as you sit on the sofa.
Taking the time to rest your legs before washing them will make a huge difference on the appearnce of varicose veins and spider veins on your legs.
2. Lift your legs up on the wall for 20 minutes.
Lifting your legs up on the wall for 20 minutes at least once a day will significantly boost the blood circulation from your legs back to your heart.
Standing or sitting for long hours suring the day causes the blood to pool in your legs, which then leads to tiny veins in your legs to erupt and die. Raising your legs straight up on a wall, with your back on the floor, bed or sofa, is an effective way to relieve your legs. It´s also scientifically proven to help improve your digestion and sleep.
If you can, doing this several times a day is even better than just once a day.
3. Don´t walk barefoot on cold floors right after you took your shoes.
Many says that walking barefoot on cold floor can cause kidney and bladder diseases. Well, there are some studies that prove this claim wrong.
However, walking barefoot on cold floor right after taking off your shoes from the outside is very likely to contribute to the growth of green varicose veins and spider veins. You really won´t miss anything if you simply avoid doing it.
4. Don´t cross your legs.
We know this. In fact, almost all girls are aware that crossing your legs can cause the formation of varicose veins. But often, we simply can´t resist.
Afterall, it looks sexy when you cross your legs. But legs without varicose veins are sexier. So when I realize that once again I´m crossing my legs, I remind myself that queens and princesses don´t cross their legs and they look good.
5. Elevate your legs as you sleep at night.
Until I went to university, my favorite sleeping position was lying on my right side with legs curved up to me like a fetus. When later my varicose veins visibly increased their size and started hurting, I figured that the way I slept at night contribute to the worsening of my varicose.
I read that in order to help regulate your blood circulation from your feet up to your legs and body, it´s advised to sleep on your back and use pillows to elevate both your legs. I found this practice truly helpful especially in eliminating the pain and decreasing the thickness of my varicose veins.
Shortly after I got married, my husband gifted me a Leg Elevation Pillow. The pillow allows my to raise my legs comfortably as I sleep at night. It´s one of the best gifts my husband has ever given me.
In order to make my legs higher than my heart, and to keep my back straight on the bed, I don´t use pillows for my head. This sleeping position not only helpy control my varicose veins and spider veins, it also helps me maintain a good posture.
6. Remember to exercise.
Exercising isn´t only good for your health, it also prevents your varicose veins from getting worse by improving your blood´s circulation. Set a time to exercise regularly.
For me though, I get a good dose of exercise from walking. I spend at least 30 minutes walking outdoors every day. Not having a car definitely makes it easier for me to go walk.
7. Wear compression stockings.
Before your consider other serious medications, try wearing compression stockings first. Compression stockings worn all day steadily squeeze your legs, helping veins and leg muscles move blood more efficiently.
Although there are knee-high compression stockings, I highly recommend you opt for the thigh high so that even your thighs will be prevented from developing more spider veins.
8. Carry a pocket anti-varicose cream
I discovered the effectiveness of Hirudoid for Scar varicose Vein cream when I was still living in Thailand. There came a point when my varicose veins were really paining and swelling a lot. It happened when I was stress and was quite overworked with no time to exercise.
I would apply a significant amount of Hirudoid cream on the varicose area and massage in one direction, from the leg towards the thigh. The next morning, my usually protruding varicose veins would become flat.
Unfortunately, I`m unable to find this products here in Germany. But if you happen to visit Thailand, or other asian countries for that matter, try inquiring for Hirudoid varicose cream at the pharmacy.
9. Take the Circulation Tablet
Dealing with varicose veins and spider web veins should be done from inside and out. Thankfully there are tablets that can help improve our blood circulation which then strengthens our blood vessels.
If blood circulation is improved, then less blood vessels will errupt which means no spider veins.
But although these tablets are safe to take, make sure to get doctor´s advice in case you have allergies or might have complications.
10. Apply horse chestnut cream on your skin
Tonifier for Tissues and Vein Appearance
When I heard that the horse chestnut is good for varicose cream, I didn´t waste time. I immediately searched amazon and ordered them. The Planetary Horse Chestnut cream was the one recommended to me but it isn´t available in Germany so I ordered it from the UK.
This Horse Chestnut cream from the Planetary is pricey. It´s also creamy. I apply it on my skin and then massage my leg from the foot up the legs and thighs. I direct the bloodflow upwards as I massage my leg.
I like the feel of this cream on my legs. It helps relieve the tension on my muscles, probably also due to the massage, and relieve the pain from my varicose veins. The only downside to this cream aside from its price is its stickiness. You will have to wash and rob your skin after other day due to the buildup of the cream on the skin.
KrauterhoF Foot Cream for Varicose Veins with horse chestnut and red vine leaves
Because the Planetary cream is expensive, I looked for another horse chestnut cream that is more affordable. I tried this kräuterhof cream which is widely available here in the country.
I love the texture of this cream. It´s easy to apply and it evaporates. There are no build up residue on my skin after application. This cream, however, does not have a high concentration of horse chestnut.
So what I do now is apply the Planetary cream in the morning, and the kräuterhof cream in the evening.
Both these creams didn´t magically make my varicose veins and spider veins disapply. But they do help slow down the worsening of my veins.
Do you have varicose veins? How does it affect your body image? What measure do you take to prevent your varicose veins from getting worse?
I have heard of crossing legs but not the other points. Interesting post. I don’t have varicose veins but I did suffer from bad bruising after pregnancy which disappeared with good diet . Thanks for the tips! 🙂
xx
Heel in Mint