Six Ways to Prevent Varicose Veins This Fall

Happy September and happy fall! We hope you’re as ready as we are to trade the hot summer sun for the crisp autumn air. As that heat simmers down and temperatures cool, we’d like to share six simple tips to help you avoid developing varicose veins in your legs.

1. Maintain a Healthy Weight: You don’t need six-pack abs to reduce your risk of developing varicose veins, but you do need to talk to your doctor about what a healthy weight looks like for you, as there is a significant correlation between obesity and varicose veins. Excess weight adds excess pressure to the legs, as well as strain on the heart. Together, these factors put people at increased risk.


2. Exercise: Cardiovascular health is the key to healthy veins, and simple actions like a 20-minute walk every day go a long way in lowering your blood pressure and strengthening your circulatory system.


3. Make Posture a Priority: Good posture can help prevent varicose veins for two reasons. First, it helps improve circulation throughout the body. Second, it keeps your legs from remaining bent or crossed for too long. Speaking of which…


4. Don’t Sit (or Stand) for Too Long: Prolonged periods of standing or sitting keeps your calf muscles from moving as they were meant to, which can cut off circulation and strain your veins. If you’re working from a desk, make sure you find 10 minutes to stand every hour. And if you’re working on your feet, make sure you find 10 minutes to stand or walk every couple of hours.


5. Elevate Those Legs: Whether you’re sitting or standing, blood follows gravity and weighs heavily in the legs over the course of a day. To help alleviate associated aching and heaviness, find 20 minutes every day—preferably in the evening—to lay with your feet lifted above the level of your heart. This will help circulation and fluid get back up the legs more easily, relieving leg discomfort.


6. Consider a Compression Hose: There’s a wide world of compression apparel—with varying levels of compression and fit—designed specifically to soothe and prevent varicose veins, and we can help find the one that’s right for you.

These tips aren’t rules, just general guidelines that can help you reduce the risk of varicose veins. If you have varicose veins, treatment is easy and minimally invasive. Call 866-695-8346 and we’ll be happy to help you with scheduling. Fall is the perfect time for vein treatments, so your legs can feel lighter and healthier before the holidays!