Preventing Varicose Veins When You Sit or Stand All Day

There are a lot of risk factors which can contribute to the development of varicose veins. One of the most common causes is either sitting or standing on the legs all day. Sitting down all day causes the blood to pool in the legs. It also increases your risk of developing blood clots. Standing on the legs all day can have a similar effect, and it places the legs under a lot of pressure.

So, if you have a job which requires you to sit or stand still all day, is it possible to prevent varicose veins from becoming worse?

Varicose vein prevention #1: walk around frequently

One of the best things you can do is to walk around as frequently as you can. If you’re sitting at a desk all day, be sure to take lots of short breaks to just get up and stretch the legs. You don’t have to walk far, just across the office and back is enough to start the blood pumping again.

Even if you work standing up, it’s still important to move around, rather than just standing in one place for long periods of time.

Varicose vein prevention #: ensure you’re maintaining a healthy weight

If you’re overweight, that’s going to put additional pressure onto the legs. Combine this with a lot of inactivity and it’s going to contribute towards varicose veins. So, losing weight if you need to, is recommended. You should also look to maintain a healthy weight by exercising and eating healthy which will have a whole host of other health benefits.

Flex the muscles and wiggle the toes

If you don’t have the option to get up and walk around, even just wiggling the toes and stretching the muscles can help to prevent varicose veins from developing. You’ll need to do this quite frequently to see the benefits.

Varicose vein prevention #1: consider wearing compression stockings

Finally, another preventative measure is to wear compression stockings. These are also used to treat the symptoms of mild to moderate varicose veins once they have developed. They’re comfortable to wear and they help to support the veins, encouraging adequate blood flow.

Lifestyle changes such as these could help to alleviate the discomfort associated with varicose veins, but there is little evidence that they can prevent varicose veins from developing and the nature of gravity means that varicose veins will likely worsen over time as it’s not feasible to expect sufferers to spend the majority of the day off their feet.

There is now a number of minimally invasive treatments that eradicate varicose veins by disrupting the vein wall, causing it to collapse where it is then safely absorbed by the body. The methods they employ are slightly different and the vein specialists at Cornwall Vein Clinic can advise you on the benefits and limitations of each procedure.