Varicose veins can cause aches, pain or throbbing in the legs or feet.
So in this video we determine if exercise has any beneficial effects on this condition.
Hi everyone and welcome to Exercise for Health. I'm Richard and today I'm going to provide
exercise advice for people that have varicose veins. If you're new to this channel we offer
tips, advice and exercises to help you manage your health condition with physical activity.
So go ahead and tap the subscribe button below and the bell icon if you want to be notified
of when we upload a new video. Varicose veins usually develop when the small valves inside
the veins, particularly in the legs, stop working properly. This creates a disruption to the blood
flow back to the heart as it collects in the vein causing it to enlarge, twist or change its
appearance. Certain things can increase your chances of developing varicose veins such as
those shown on screen now. But there are many myths as to how exercise affects them.
So here are the facts. Firstly there is ample evidence that demonstrates that exercise is
extremely beneficial for the veins and that regular exercise can help prevent them from
appearing or worsening. And I'll leave a link in the description below to a research article that
you can check out for yourself. Although the veins can visibly bulge either during or shortly after
exercise, this is only due to a natural harmless bodily function known as filtration that pushes
the veins to the surface of the skin and does not make the condition any worse. Being physically
active on a daily basis is obviously very beneficial to your health. In the case of
someone that has varicose veins, it's even more important to stay active to promote the blood flow
around the body and enhance the muscle pumping effect in the legs to help move the blood against
gravity back to the heart. In addition, by exercising and stimulating the heart rate more
than normal to about 50 to 80 percent of your theoretical maximum heart rate, you will enhance
the blood flow to keep it moving around the body and avoid blood pooling in the legs. Other than
medical interventions and treatments, avoiding long periods of standing or sitting can help,
as can raising the legs above the heart after a long day. Some people are prescribed compression
stockings that can help promote the blood flow away from the lower legs too, but one of the best
methods for increasing the blood flow while stimulating the muscles of the lower legs is
walking uphill. This is because the calf muscles get an effective workout when walking up a slope,
improving the muscle pumping action required to promote the blood flow back to the heart,
and the heart rate increases more than walking on a level surface. However, if you find yourself
sat at a desk for long periods due to working commitments, then you can try some ankle pumps,
lifting the heels of your feet up and down from the floor to activate the calf muscles to improve
the blood flow. People that are experiencing pain symptoms from their varicose veins may not be able
to do any high intensity exercise as this may make the pain symptoms worse. It may also be worse if
you do high volumes of lower limb exercises, filling the leg muscles with lots of blood,
making the veins have to work that much harder to pump the blood back to the heart. Therefore,
if you are experiencing pain, sticking to moderate intensity workouts such as cycling, walking,
swimming, or doing a peripheral heart action program in the gym, where you alternate between
upper body and lower body exercises to reduce blood pooling and promote continuous blood flow,
will certainly help gain the benefits from the exercise without feeling any worsening of the
symptoms. High impact exercises such as running and jumping may be okay, but this will be
dependent on the severity of the varicose veins, what your body is used to, and if you get any
adverse effects from this type of exercise. Lower impact activities though are encouraged and
although exercise is no cure for varicose veins, it will certainly be one of the best ways of
promoting good vein health. Finally, it's not advised to use a foam roller over the affected
area because this will increase the pressure on the already malfunctioning veins and could create
further problems. It's also worth noting that although rare, bleeding from a knock of the vein
or blood clots forming in the vein can cause complications, so it's worth staying vigilant
about any abnormal symptoms that you may experience. All in all, exercise is recommended
for people with varicose veins, so find something you enjoy and stick with it. I hope you can take
something away from this video today. If so, then please give it a like by clicking the thumbs up
button below to help this channel grow so more people can benefit from it. Thank you so much
for watching and remember to stay active, keep moving and I'll see you next week. Thank you for
watching. If you enjoyed this video today, please give it a thumbs up. You can also click here to
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