Traveling with varicose veins during the holidays can be challenging. Even for the fittest individuals, long rides on planes, trains, and cars can cause your circulation to slow and blood to pool in your legs. This can create pain, cramping, and swelling especially for those with varicose and spider veins.
Before beginning your holiday travel plans, it’s important to pay attention to the quality of your health. Traveling is often more difficult for people with varicose veins, so you need to take steps to avoid circulation issues. We’ve put together five important tips for those who are planning to travel this holiday and suffer from varicose veins.
Understanding Vein Disease
Symptoms of vein disease like painful varicose or spider veins include:
- itching
- burning,
- cramps,
- heaviness in the legs,
- swelling of the feet,
You may find that your energy level is affected, and it reduces your motivation to participate in daily activities. This can be very debilitating, especially during the holiday season when there are so many events, parties, and responsibilities to attend.
If you are suffering from any of these symptoms, don’t let it prevent you from enjoying your holiday plans. Vein treatment is an outpatient simple procedure that doesn’t require hospitalization or general anesthesia. Most people resume walking right away and can resume most normal activities.
If you feel affected by painful and other unpleasant symptoms, then this may be a good time to schedule an appointment with us so we can get you back on track for the holiday season, especially if you plan to travel.
Five Travel Tips for Varicose Veins
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Move
When flying, try to walk the cabin aisle whenever possible. Sitting cramped in a seat for long hours can be hard for anyone but for someone with vein problems, it’s even harder. If driving, take breaks to get out and walk for a short time.
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Lift Your Heels
When the flight doesn’t allow you to get out of your seat, lift your heels like you’re getting on your tiptoes to engage your calf muscles. This allows the blood to pump from the heart which is key for vein health.
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Wear Comfortable Clothes
Choose something loose instead of tight pants or dresses while traveling. Tight clothes cause increased pressure on the abdomen which hinders the venous system’s goal of moving blood up from the legs to the heart. Avoid wearing high heel shoes.
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Wear Compression Stockings
A simple and effective way to help relieve venous insufficiency symptoms during travel is to wear compression stockings.
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Stay Hydrated
Drink plenty of water to help keep vein walls from narrowing and can even prevent constipation, which also stresses the venous system. Staying hydrated allows your skin to keep its elasticity, which helps our circulatory system to keep blood flowing through our veins.
Before traveling, we want to do everything possible to lower our risk of venous insufficiency and DVT.
Even if you think you are not at risk of varicose veins, it is still very important to get checked to determine if any other underlying, ongoing conditions may have not caused any noticeable symptoms.
Take our symptoms quiz and answer five quick questions to evaluate your vein health.
We offer a variety of treatments for varicose veins, spider veins, and other symptoms of vein disease. Our treatments take about 15-30 minutes depending on the severity of your condition and require little recovery time so that you can get back to living your life right away.
Call us at 888.768.3467 to find out how we can help you be healthier for the holiday season. Don’t feel like calling? Click the button below to schedule your appointment online.
