Varicose Veins In Hot Weather

The weekend’s mega heatwave caused further misery for many patients with varicose veins as symptoms get worse in the heat.

Unfortunately, hot weather is known to make varicose veins worse. When the body is in a hot environment, it naturally tries to cool itself. One of the key ways it does this is by dilating blood veins and vessels in order to bring more blood to the surface of the skin so that it can be cooled, thereby bringing down body temperature. This explains why the skin can look red in a hot environment – it is simply the body’s way of trying to cool down.

However, for patients with varicose veins, the veins are already at a disadvantage, as they are not as efficient as they should be and allow blood to pool instead of being pushed quickly through the valves. When the veins expand, this pushes a larger amount of blood into the veins, increasing the pooling so that veins become more swollen than ever. The pressure increases too, which can lead to further damage to the veins.

Varicose Vein Symptoms

As well as the veins themselves worsening in hot weather, a heatwave can also exacerbate the accompanying symptoms.

• Aching sensations increase as the amount of blood the vein is trying to pump is even greater, putting more pressure on the damaged veins
• Cramping can also increase for the same reason
• Swelling of ankles and feet is commonly worse during hot weather as the swelling of blood vessels causes more blood to pool

8 Self-Help Tips – Varicose Veins In The Heat

Simple measures to improve comfort of varicose veins in the hot weather are based around keeping the legs cool:

1. Avoid the sun and heat as much as possible – stay indoors or in the shade
2. Seek air conditioned environments or get a fan for indoors
3. Use a cold flannel to cool the legs – just run a cloth under the cold tap, wring out and apply to your legs
4. Have a cool shower and definitely avoid hot baths
5. Drink plenty to keep well hydrated and help your body to manage its temperature
6. Do stay active – gentle walks are a great way to boost circulation
7. Avoid standing for long periods – put your feet up in an elevated position when resting to help blood to flow back up the legs and ease discomfort
8. Consider compression stockings if symptoms are very bad

5 Varicose Vein Treatments

These self-help tips are designed to relieve the symptoms, but won’t unfortunately reverse the root cause i.e. varicose veins. The only way to get complete relief is to get rid of the varicose veins themselves. This is not as drastic as it might sound. The latest techniques are highly effective and available on a ‘walk in walk out’ basis at our London clinics with no general anaesthetic or overnight stay required. We offer a suite of options:

1. EVLA (endovenous laser ablation) treatment from £1,650 – laser treatment to destroy the veins from the inside – the gold-standard solution for varicose veins
2. Tumescent Foam Sclerotherapy – exclusively developed by our Vascular Surgeon, this combines EVLA with Foam Sclerotherapy
3. ClariVein® treatment from £1,895 – a mechanical action combines with a special chemical to seal the vein for fast and effective relief
4. Micro surgery from £500 – most often used alongside other treatments, physically removing the troublesome veins after laser/injections
5. Foam sclerotherapy from £500 – injectable treatment which uses a special chemical to destroy the varicose vein