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Frequent leg fatigue may indicate the occurrence of vascular diseases. Even with a sedentary lifestyle, in this case, leg fatigue will appear, since the deterioration of the outflow of lymph and venous blood through the vessels leads to congestion in the lower extremities. Sometimes leg fatigue occurs against the background of an absolutely normal state of health for no apparent reason, which may indicate a pathology of blood vessels in the body. That is why with the regular occurrence of leg fatigue, you should urgently seek the advice of a doctor.
There are times when foot fatigue causes shoes that do not the corresponding leg size, or foot shape. There is a high probability of occurrence of such a symptom in women who wear shoes on too high heels in everyday life for many hours on end. narrow shoes disturbs the normal circulation in the feet, which is also manifested by leg fatigue. However, when wearing uncomfortable shoes, there is a high risk that, in addition to this symptom, others will soon appear, indicating significant pathological processes.
You can remove or reduce fatigue in the legs with the help of exercises designed to improve blood flow, warm up the muscles of the legs after long sitting position, or to calm down after long hikes. Leg fatigue is also relieved with the help of baths or massage exercises. If, even after rest, fatigue in the legs quickly returns, it is necessary with the help of doctors to establish the cause of this condition, since this can signal severe pathological processes.
Causes of leg fatigue
Various venous pathologies most often lead to fatigue in the legs. Such pathologies include varicose veins, thrombophlebitis, atherosclerosis, thrombosis, aortoarteritis, chronic venous insufficiency, embolism of the arteries of the lower extremities.
When varicose veins occurleg expansion of the veins of the lower extremities, the outflow of venous blood is disturbed, stagnation occurs, leading to the appearance of unpleasant sensations. With thrombophlebitis, in addition to stagnation of blood in the legs, blood clots occur in the veins, affecting both small and large vessels. At the same time, leg fatigue is always accompanied by pain and severe swelling. Atherosclerosis is a disease affecting the vascular system in which vessels are formed cholesterol plaques. Violation of blood flow in this case is due to the fact that the diameter of the lumen of the vessels is greatly reduced, which causes stagnation of blood.
Also, fatigue in the legs can occur in patients with diabetes, flat feet or against the background of high physical exertion. Professional athletes very often suffer from a similar symptom. If leg fatigue occurs periodically, you should definitely consult with a specialist – a phlebologist, who will identify the cause and indicate methods for its elimination in order to avoid serious complications of the disease.
Treating tired legs
For the treatment of various diseases associated with increased leg fatigue, the doctor often prescribes drugs that normalize venous tone. With the ineffectiveness of drug therapy in modern clinics, sclerotherapy, surgery and endovasal laser coagulation are performed.
Sclerotherapy is a non-invasive treatment technique aimed at eliminating those veins in the body that functionally incompetent and lead to leg fatigue. At the same time, a special sclerosing drug is injected into the affected veins, which promotes the resorption of such veins. The maximum effect of the sclerotherapy technique becomes visible after 1-2 months from the start of treatment. Removing damaged veins phlebologists provoke a redistribution of blood flow along healthy highways. What, in the end, eliminates completely fatigue in the legs.
When surgeonschess intervention, phlebologists completely invasively eliminate the affected vessels – veins and capillaries with their tributaries, after which the fatigue in the legs disappears. And with endovasal laser coagulation, varicose veins are removed using a laser. Endovasal coagulation is carried out with a stable scan, so the affected vein is clearly visible and can be easily removed by laser puncture.
First aid for tired legs
If fatigue in the legs began to be felt, they need to be allowed to rest. This must be done by improving the outflow of lymph, that is, by adoption a position where the legs can be raised to some heightabove body level. You can instantly soothe tired limbs with a complex therapy of baths, massages and exercises.
Among the exercises, the “bicycle” is considered the most effective for leg fatigue. This exercise is recommended not only to eliminate the symptoms of fatigue, but also to prevent varicose veins. The patient lies on his back, lifts his legs up, straightens his arms along the body and begins to pedal for 2-3 minutes. After the “bike” it is recommended to make a bath for tired legs. The bath needs a contrast, so hot water must be drawn into one container and cold water into the other. It is alternately required to immerse the legs for 10 seconds in one or another container. It is necessary to finish taking baths with cold water, the number of container changes is 20. After that, the legs are well rubbed with a towel and smeared with cream. It is important to remember that in case of kidney problems, such baths are prohibited.
After the baths, you can do a massage. Massage the feet lubricated with cream or oil in a circular motion for 20 minutes. The direction of massage is from heel to toes and back. After the feet, the ankles are massaged, then the knees, and at the end of the procedure, massage flexion and extension of the toes is performed.
It also effectively eliminates the manifestation of fatigue in the legs and walking barefoot. The nerve endings of the feet are better stimulated in this way, and if you walk barefoot on a special massage mat, this will help replace the massage session. Large pebbles, on which it is recommended to walk, have a similar effect. It is often sold in pet stores.
Sometimes, with severe leg fatigue due to varicose veins, doctors recommend that patients wear compression underwear and use special orthopedic pillows for a night’s rest.
Folk remedies for tired legs
Among the most popular folk remedies that help fight fatigue in the legs, various herbal baths, baths with essential oils, compresses, tinctures, rubdowns predominate. These recipes should be used only after consultation with a specialist, and then they can bring a lot of benefits to eliminate severe fatigue in the legs.
Among the popular herbal baths, decoctions of wormwood, horsetail, succession or St. John’s wort, chamomile and lime blossom, nettle and mint, calendula, wormwood and mountain ash, citrus peels should be distinguished. All of the above decoctions can be mixed in baths with sea salt and honey to enhance the effect. For baths with essential oils, take about 3-4 drops of the appropriate oil per bath, adding it to milk, sea salt or honey already diluted in water. A couple of ice cubes, 2 drops of mint oil, milk and a couple of drops of lemon juice dissolve in cool water. 3 drops of lavender oil are dripped into warm water with a tablespoon of sea salt, which can be replaced with fir, lemon, juniper or cypress.
To relieve swelling, and, therefore, eliminate fatigue and heaviness in the legs, a cabbage leaf is applied as a compress to the leg. It is first rolled out with a rolling pin so that the juice begins to stand out, then applied to the foot and wrapped with a bandage. The cabbage compress is removed after 30 minutes, after which a bath is made. For the same purpose, it is customary to use garlic tincture, which is prepared by chopping a head of garlic in a blender, followed by pouring a glass of boiling water over the resulting slurry and infusing for 30 minutes. The mixture is applied to the feet, kept for 20 minutes, washed off and then a cooling bath is applied.
Very effectively eliminate the feeling of fatigue and heaviness in the legs ordinary wiping with medical alcohol. It needs to be slightly cooled and rubbed into the feet for about 30 seconds. After rubbing, the legs need a half-hour rest on a hill.
Timely treatment of leg fatigue will help to avoid a number of serious diseases. To do this, you can not neglect the signals from your own body and consult a doctor as soon as the symptoms appear two or more times in a short period of time.