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By Dr. Samuel P. Martin M.D.
Not surprisingly, your age plays a big role in your vein health. Vein damage is cumulative, so the longer we live, the more strain our veins have endured. By the time we reach an advanced age, our legs have undergone many years of stress.
How Does Your Age and Lifestyle Hurt Your Veins?
Age also plays a role in our lifestyle. As we age, we generally get less physically active. This lack of physical activity strains our venous system and also encourages weight gain, further stressing our veins. Muscle mass is also lost as we age, which decreases support for veins.
What can You do to Maintain Your Vein Health?
Maintaining your vein health as you age is not impossible. Keeping up with a regular exercise regimen, particularly one that incorporates swimming or using a pool, is a great step to support your circulatory system in your legs. It’s also important keep a healthy weight as you age. Any extra weight strains your veins and can weaken valves.
What Medical Care can Support Your Veins?
Compression therapy is extremely effective at maintaining your vein health and preventing damage as you age. These garments promote healthy blood flow and prevent veins from leaking. They are easy to use, inexpensive and typically the first treatment we recommend for new patients.
What’s Your Best Treatment for Aging Veins?
As expected, prevention is always the best treatment for aging veins. Once veins are damaged and leaking, they cannot be repaired. However, damaged veins can be closed off, which forces the body to reroute the blood supply away from surface veins to healthy, deeper veins. These deeper veins have more muscle surrounding them, providing greater support.
If you are wondering whether you’re at risk for developing vein disease, schedule an appointment to sit down with one of our friendly vein care specialists to talk about your concerns.
