5 Tips for Healthier Legs

Healthy legs are beautiful legs, free of vascular conditions that can lead to the appearance of unsightly and often painful spider and varicose veins. While there is no home remedy that can eliminate those veins once they appear, there are ways to minimize your risk for developing them. These five tips will help you keep your legs in top condition throughout the winter season, so you will be ready to flaunt your gams with confidence when summer rolls around again.

Move

Regular exercise is an important step in keeping your legs healthy. Walking, swimming or bike riding flex the muscles in your calves, which helps to push blood back up the veins of the lower legs to the heart. Avoid prolonged periods of sitting or standing in a single position if you can – take a break from your desk to trot up and down a flight or two of stairs or simply stretch out the muscles with a short, brisk walk every hour or two.

Relax

In the evenings when you are ready to take a break from the business of the day, give your legs the break they need as well. When possible elevate the legs to give them rest from working against gravity to pump blood back to the heart. When you are sitting behind your desk at work, use a foot rest to elevate your legs slightly to make blood flow a little easier on your veins.

Refresh

While a hot bath may sound good after a long day’s work, soaking your legs in water that is too hot is not good for your circulation. Instead, try refreshing in a cool shower, which will improve your circulation. By the same token, avoid hot tubs and saunas that can restrict blood vessels and create more pressure on the lower veins of the legs.

Maintain

Weight gain can put more pressure on your leg veins, which can increase your odds of developing varicose veins. Maintain a healthy weight throughout your life with good diet and exercise choices. If you are overweight now, find an effective weight loss program that will help you shed excess pounds and lower your risk for varicose veins later on.

Support

If you are already at higher risk for varicose veins, due to family history, obesity or other factors, consider using compression stockings to relieve some of the pressure in your lower legs. These special socks provide more tension at the foot and then gradually releases tension as they move up the leg. This encourages healthy blood flow up the leg to the heart, relieving pressure on the veins and decreasing your risk for vein swelling and varicosity.

While there are many healthy steps you can take to reduce your risk for varicose veins, they cannot always be prevented entirely. If you do notice those swelling, twisting veins on your lower legs, there are numerous minimally-invasive treatments that effectively eliminate unsightly veins and relieve the uncomfortable symptoms that often accompany them. To learn more about choices in varicose vein treatment, contact Center for Vein Restoration.