HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 November 1942, Page 5

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

VARICOSE VEINS. METHODS OF TREATMENT, (By the Health Department). Victims of varicose veins are mostly people past middle age, and it is safe to say that the majority of people in this category suffer from them. Tests have shown them to be more prevalent among women than men, and it is found that maternity slightly increases the tendency towards them. Varicose veins are caused by changes in the vein walls, which lose their elasticity with age. This loss of elasticity results in twisting and expansion of the veins; and constantly increasing growth of fibrous tissue means thickened walls, bigger veins, and, in time, knots and lumps of twisted veins. Leg veins are equipped with valves to stop the back-flow of blood, but when veins become varicose these valves cease to function, and extra effort or exercise causes back-flow and high venous pressure in the lower parts of the legs. The limbs become bluish and often swollen, the skin and tissues are badly nourished, and resulting ulcers are painful and difficult to heal. The increased pressure also induces the aching pain so often felt. People who have to stand constantly at work are most susceptible, and the wearing of high heels by women is a predisposing factor. Treatment requires medical advice. A course of injection with a suitable drug usually gives satisfactory results where the condition is not very extensive, and where the injection treatment is given early. It is advisable to act soon as there are positive signs of varicose veins. If they are left too long, only surgical treatment is effective, and this entails loss of ordinary activity and working time.