Are People With Sedentary Lifestyles More Prone to Varicose Veins?

How does a sedentary lifestyle contribute to varicose veins?

• Weight gain

Putting on weight is the inevitable effect of a sedentary lifestyle. Using less energy accumulates more calories that are stored as fat in the body. If you spend long hours of the day sitting at a desk, your muscles lack movement, and you are not using enough energy to burn fats in the body. When the energy used is less than the food consumed, your body tends to gain weight, leading to obesity. Weight gain can contribute to many health diseases, and varicose veins are one among them. Excess body weight puts more pressure on veins and damages them. These damaged veins fail to perform their designated function, leading to varicose veins.

• Loss of muscle strength

Muscles also tend to lose their actual strength due to long hours of sitting. You could develop a medical condition called muscle atrophy. Sitting at a desk creates muscle weakness and impacts blood circulation in the legs. Also, your sitting posture has a long-term influence on vein health because the blood in the veins becomes stagnant, and you need muscle movements in the legs to push blood back to the heart. Lack of movement in muscles will pool blood in your veins, leading to varicose veins.

• Poor blood circulation

A sedentary lifestyle also pools blood in your legs and keeps you at risk of developing varicose veins and spider veins. When blood accumulates in the leg veins, it becomes enlarged and appears twisted on your skin’s surface. This is one of the indicative symptoms of varicose veins that you should get checked with the doctor for further diagnosis. The medical condition is benign, but should be evaluated by a professional at the earliest to prevent the progression of the disease. If left untreated, varicose veins problems may lead to many other health conditions like blood clots and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which could further progress to pulmonary embolism, a life-threatening health condition. It is very important to stay physically active and avoid any vein-related issues in the body.

• Cardiovascular disease

A sedentary lifestyle is also prone to cardiovascular disease, affecting the function of the heart. Though both varicose veins and cardiovascular disease affect different parts of the body, cardiovascular disease can raise the chances of varicose veins. Heart disease creates high blood pressure that impacts the health of both arteries and veins, and the blood flow becomes sluggish, leading to varicose veins. Heart problems also tend to retain fluids in the body, creating venous pressure and damaging the vein function in the body. Lack of physical activity due to heart problems also pools blood in your veins, leading to varicose veins.

• Diabetes

A sedentary lifestyle leads to insulin resistance in the body and changes the way the body produces insulin, leading to diabetes. When you develop diabetes, it may affect blood vessels over time, and it becomes difficult for the veins to function properly, leading to varicose veins. High blood sugars also weaken vein valves, increasing the risk of varicose veins. Varicose veins caused by poor blood circulation take a longer time to heal because the underlying cause lacks a cure, but only management of the disease.

The interlink between a sedentary lifestyle and varicose veins 

Integrating good physical activity in your life is important for overall body health, including vein health. Veins in the legs perform a key function in transporting poorly oxygenated blood back to the heart. When these veins become inactive due to your sedentary lifestyle, it can impact blood circulation in veins, developing vein problems like varicose veins. A sedentary lifestyle is not good for varicose veins. It can affect the health of your veins in different ways, like the ones listed.

• Stagnation of blood flow

A sedentary lifestyle calls for sitting for longer hours in a day, leading to blood stagnation. The stagnated blood increases pressure on veins, especially in the legs, making you more susceptible to varicose veins.

• Weakening of vein walls

A sedentary lifestyle puts constant pressure on veins and weakens vein walls over a period. These weakened vein valves have poor elasticity and fail to maintain proper blood flow in veins, leading to varicose veins.

• Heaviness in legs

Suppose the sedentary lifestyle shows you any symptoms like heaviness in your legs. In that case, you should pay attention to these symptoms and get them checked with vein specialists to know the underlying cause and rule out the possibility of varicose veins.

• Pooling of the blood vein

A sedentary lifestyle lacks enough movement and muscle contractions in the legs to push the blood back to the heart. The blood tends to pool in veins and increases pressure on the veins, leading to varicose veins.

• Strained veins

Longer hours of sitting in a day make your veins work hard to pump blood through the body. The strained veins tend to become weak over time and fail to pump the blood back to the heart, leading to varicose veins.

Tips for maintaining vein health

When it is inevitable to run a sedentary lifestyle to earn your bread and butter, you should conduct some simple exercises to maintain your vein health and keep off diseases like varicose veins.

• If you have to sit for long hours during desk jobs, take small breaks and move around the table or perform some simple stretching exercises to foster movement in the calf muscles and reduce the chances of varicose veins.
• Make changes in your diet plan and include lots of fiber and vitamin-rich food, which helps in strengthening vein valves and also helps you maintain a healthy body mass index that reduces pressure on veins even after long hours of sitting.
• Stay active during the rest of the period after the desk job to promote blood circulation in veins and stay away from vascular problems like varicose veins.
• Try to rest your legs above the heart level to help the blood flow back to the heart and prevent the accumulation of blood in veins.
• Consider wearing compression stockings when you sit for long hours in front of your desk. They apply gentle pressure on your legs to support vein function and prevent the pooling of blood in veins.
• Keep your body hydrated by drinking a lot of water. Proper hydration in the body improves blood circulation in veins and prevents thickening, helping the veins to function properly.

Need for treatment of varicose veins

Varicose vein disease worsens over time and may even lead to chronic cases if left untreated. People who are obese and have a sedentary lifestyle are at risk of developing varicose veins. It is often recommended to check for varicose vein symptoms like bulging in veins, swelling, pain, and inflammation in the legs for early diagnosis of varicose veins and better treatment options.

Varicose veins cannot be ruled out with simple home remedies; they need the right varicose vein treatment. Expert doctors will give you the right advice based on the severity of varicose veins in your case. The effective treatments for different stages of varicose veins range from the minimally invasive approach of CLaCS for spider veins to laser therapies for enlarged varicose veins. All these varicose vein treatments are minimally invasive and take only a shorter recovery period.

Conclusion

A sedentary lifestyle makes your muscles inactive and puts a lot of pressure on veins when they try to push the blood back to the heart. This increased pressure weakens your valves over time, and they fail to carry the blood back to the heart and start pooling blood in your veins, leading to varicose veins. You are at a greater risk of developing varicose veins with your sedentary lifestyle. You should follow some tips to protect your vein health and also check for varicose vein symptoms often for early detection and better treatment.

Avis Hospitals, has a great team of vein care specialist offering minimally invasive and effective treatments for simple to chronic cases of varicose veins. Our treatment approach is patient-centric, and we assure long-lasting results different stages of varicose veins.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

• Does a sedentary lifestyle cause varicose veins?

Sedentary lifestyles play a key role in developing varicose veins in individuals. Lack of movement for a longer time leads to poor blood circulation, leading to a pool of blood in veins and damaging them further.

• Why does sitting for long hours lead to varicose veins?

Sitting for long hours in the day lacks muscle movements and reduces blood circulation. Increased pressure on veins due to pooling of blood leads to varicose veins.

• Is a sedentary lifestyle dangerous to vein health?

Yes, lack of proper blood flow in veins leads to many vein-related problems like varicose veins, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), venous ulcers, leg swelling, and pain.

• Will obesity lead to varicose veins?

Yes, obesity makes your life inactive and puts a lot of pressure on leg veins, impairing their function and leading to varicose veins.

• How can you prevent varicose veins with a sedentary lifestyle?

Taking preventive measures like short walks every hour, stretching your legs often, and wearing compression stockings always helps to reduce the chances of developing varicose veins.