Showing Signs of Wear and Tear
My body is breaking.
Yes, there are things I can do to fix some of it. There are a lot of things I can do to prevent some things.
But there are things I can’t control, prevent, or even fix myself.
Varicose Veins
My legs don’t look bad. I don’t have spider veins or bulging veins, well, not all the time.
The veins do bulge when I’m standing or walking and I’m not wearing compression hose.
There is one spot where the veins bulge and are visible through the skin in their bubbly purple-blue color.
But there are four spots that hurt. Two on each leg. Interestingly, in the same spots on both legs, the shin, and calf. In these three other spots, there are no purply-bulging veins. Only what looks like long white pulsing worms under my skin.
For one leg, this has been going on since 2013 when I started wrapping an ace bandage around my leg to support the purply-vein spot on my shin and keep it from throbbing. The other leg started hurting a week ago. It took me a little while to figure out I needed to wear a compression hose on that leg too. Bummer.
In December 2014 I had a procedure done, Sclerotherapy. “An injectable solution is administered directly into the vein, causing the vein walls to seal shut.” The other two procedures are just as gag-reflex-worthy.
Within 8 months I was back in compression hose, unable to sit or stand for long periods. Sometimes not even short periods.
I found a balance, of sorts, between sitting, standing, and moving. My exercise routines, modified due to the line of injuries I’ve been dealing with, exist. Meaning I still workout, I just don’t run or hike anymore.
My latest aerobic workout in on a Peloton bike. Love it. It’s not running outside on the trails in the desert, but it gets my heart pumping. And the instructors are pretty dang cool too.
My weight is, eh. I was within 7 pounds of my goal weight — having lost 43 pounds — when I got hurt. I’m up by 13 pounds from that point, after 3 (friggin) years of dealing with these injuries. Dammit. But I am exercising ‘for real’ again, so that’s a good thing.
I say ‘for real’ because to me, real exercise means at least 60 minutes of a heart bounding, dripping sweat kind of workout. The kind where a shower is mandatory, not optional, not later. Now. It’s the sweet spot my body needs to fight off symptoms (or side-effects?) of menopause. Namely: Hot Flashes. They suck. But, for me, a ‘real’ workout makes them go away. And the side effects of exercise are a hell of a lot better than the side effects of hormone replacement therapy. Namely: Weight Gain.
Back to the veins.
I went back to the doctor once I started wearing the thigh-high compression hose again, asking ‘what’s next?’ The answer? Go have the procedure again. Collapse another vein, or if the vein doctor said it was time for something else, do that.
All of the options include some kind of closing down or removal of the vein. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Don’t I need those?
I get that if they’re not functioning properly, then I need to do something about them. It makes me wonder if other veins in my body are not functioning properly. What about my heart? What would I — or could I — do about it?
I’m not finding anything too promising other than diet (check), exercise, (check), rest, (check, check). There are no supplements (although vitamin B is recommended), no pills, no special food, oils, extracts, essentials, exercise, therapy, or truly non-invasive procedure with the data to prove it works permanently.
There’s still a lot of road ahead of me, I hope. I’m doing the things I’ve been told to do and will continue to search for answers. I’m also holding out hope there is a cure or at least a preventative out there, waiting to be discovered. (Personally, I’m keeping an eye on cannabis and hemp studies.)
In the meantime, I’ll be wearing those stylish compression hose.
If anyone can design me a compression hose fabric to make my leg look a droid leg, and have at least 40–50mmHg compression, please send me a link to where I can buy them.
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