Did you know varicose veins can have an effect on your sleep? If you live with varicose veins, you might know this from experience, but perhaps you’re not sure why.
How do varicose veins make good quality sleep harder to get? more importantly, what can you do to sleep better with varicose veins? And what could be the best treatment options for varicose veins? Let’s get you some answers.
Renew Vein & Vascular – a leading vein clinic in South California offers comprehensive diagnosis and treatment for a wide range of vascular conditions.
How Do Varicose Veins Affect Sleep?
People with varicose veins can experience aches and leg cramps as symptoms of the condition. Unfortunately, these symptoms tend to come to life at nighttime, just as you’re trying to get some much-needed shuteye.
One reason the symptoms bother people more at night time is simply that they become more noticeable. Without the distractions of daily life, the cramps and achiness can amplify, snatching your full attention and making it difficult to fall asleep.
Leg cramps, achiness, swelling, and other symptoms of varicose veins are the result of blood pooling into the legs. The key to getting better sleep is improving circulation. You can read more about ways to improve blood circulation.
Restless Legs Syndrome
Sometimes, sleep is affected by a condition associated with the presence of varicose veins, and that is restless legs syndrome (RLS). If you have chronic venous insufficiency, there’s a chance you have RLS on top.
RLS creates unpleasant sensations in your legs and an overpowering urge to move them. The symptoms of RLS are always worse at night time, which means patients are unable to sleep and are often as restless as their legs!
How to Get Better Sleep
- Compression stockings
Wearing compression socks can help immensely with sleep. They’re designed to be tight towards the foot and looser as they travel up your leg. This design lets the compression stockings use your lower leg to push blood back up to the heart, leading to better blood flow.
Compression stockings are wonderful for improving circulation. Having better circulation means your pain and swelling should dampen down, and you may even find your leg cramps lessen too. Without those symptoms bothering you, dozing off becomes a bit easier. Renew Vein offers Compression Therapy to help treat vein disease
- Adopt this sleeping position
To help reduce the symptoms of venous insufficiency, consider elevating your legs at night. This will encourage the blood that has pooled in your legs to get moving toward the heart. You can do this by slipping a pillow (or two) under your legs.
Putting your legs up so they’re just above the level of your heart will help bring down any swelling.
- Hydrate
This is a simple one. Drinking enough water throughout the day will support circulation. Try not to drink too much at night. We’re aiming for uninterrupted sleep, but a full bladder will wake you back up!
- Stretch
Stretching is good for your muscles and will help prevent tightness. If you experience achiness as a symptom of varicose veins, stretching may help ease the aches and pains. Plus, stretching helps promote blood flow too. Consider stretching for ten minutes every evening.
- Go for an evening walk
We’re far more sedentary now as a society than we’ve ever been. Most people have jobs that involve standing or sitting for long periods of time. If you have vein disease, a lack of movement can aggravate your symptoms. Not moving means more pressure within your veins.
You can help relieve the strain on your veins with an evening walk. Walking leads to your leg muscles contracting, so the blood in your legs travels back up to your heart. Walking is an excellent way to relieve symptoms without adding any more pressure onto your veins.
Walking is also good for your overall health, so get those steps in if you can!
Getting Rid of Varicose Veins
While all of the above can help you reduce symptoms of varicose veins, so you can finally sleep, you must know: they won’t get rid of varicose veins.
Eating correctly, exercising, using compression stockings and all of these different strategies support your vein health, but to remove varicose veins, contacting a vein specialist would be the best practice.
One of the several medical procedures is needed to remove varicose veins. Thankfully, these procedures are now minimally invasive and lead to remarkable results.
Examples of Varicose Vein Treatments
To get an idea of the kinds of treatments on offer, here are some we offer at the Renew Vein & Vascular..
- Ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy
Best for spider veins and varicose veins, sclerotherapy works by injecting a chemical foaming solution into the vein, which then encourages the vein to close in and seal shut. Ultra-guided sclerotherapy involves the vein doctor mapping out the abnormal veins before treating them.
Read more about ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy for vein diseases.
- Radiofrequency thermal ablation
Best for troublesome superficial varicose veins, radiofrequency thermal ablation delivers radiofrequency waves into the vein. Heat is generated and the vein is forced to collapse in on itself. The vein is then sealed and the blood moves into your healthy veins.
Read more about how radiofrequency thermal ablation can help with varicose veins.
- Phlebectomy
This procedure consists of surgically removing veins to treat varicose veins. The veins are extracted through a small cut or incision in the skin. Phlebectomy is a low-risk procedure that is performed on an outpatient basis and done under local anesthesia. It is an excellent treatment option for those who have been suffering the often-debilitating symptoms of venous disorders.
Read more about how phlebectomy can give you relief from varicose veins.
- Compression Therapy
Reduce discomfort and swelling that accompanies varicose veins with compression therapy. This can be done with compression socks, stockings, boots, or bandages that apply pressure to your legs. The pressure is usually gentle and increases the blood flow so as to release the clotting or blockages that cause varicose veins. Compression therapy is a well-trusted and long-standing treatment for varicose veins.
Read more about how compression therapy can help improve vein health.
Treat Your Varicose Veins at Renew Vein & Vascular in South California
When it comes to your veins, you want an exceptional and experienced vein doctor to take you on. Your vein health is important, after all! Entrust your veins to Dr. Robert Azizi – an experienced vein doctor, and get your varicose veins treated with one of our safe and effective procedures.
To find out how Dr. Robert Azizi can help you, give us a call. Varicose veins are a treatable problem and the procedures involved are minimally invasive. If your sleep problems started with varicose veins, you can get back to enjoying deep and uninterrupted sleep again.
Get in touch with us here to find out more.
Dr. Azizi, the distinguished vascular surgeon and Leading Specialist at Renew Vein and Vascular Care, is a trailblazer in the field of vascular medicine. As the visionary founder of Renew Vein and Vascular Care, Dr. Azizi has established state-of-the-art facilities in Korea Town, Bell Gardens, and Buena Park, CA. His patient-centric philosophy emphasizes personalized care, fostering strong doctor-patient relationships, and his community engagement extends to educational outreach programs on vascular health. Dr. Azizi’s unwavering dedication to excellence and compassion positions him as a leader shaping the future of vascular surgery and healthcare.