7 tactics for reducing varicose veins

Varicose veins can result from any number of causes. These steps can protect your legs, and keep varicose veins from growing worse if you already have them.

• Researchers say that standing for long periods every day raises your risk of varicose veins by 60 percent.
• Sitting down whenever possible helps by easing pressure on blood vessels.
• Plant your feet flat on the floor or cross your ankles when you sit.
• Crossing your legs at the knees squeezes veins shut, further blocking blood flow.

• Raising your legs prevents blood from pooling.
• Try this exercise: lie down at home and raise your legs higher than the level of your heart by propping them on pillows or even against the wall.
• This allows gravity to work to move blood to your heart instead of having it pool in the veins of your legs and feet.

• Being overweight puts extra pressure on the fragile veins just below the surface of the skin in your legs.
• Being overweight or obese raised the odds for varicose veins by as much as 58 percent in one large Scottish study.
• A great way to lose weight is by getting more exercise, which also reduces your risk of vein problems.

• Horse chestnut seed extract (HCSE) is one alternative remedy for varicose vein discomfort that seems to really work.
• When Harvard Medical School doctors reviewed 16 studies on varicose vein patients, they found that those who took the extract had four times less pain than those who got a placebo.
• Half saw a decrease in swelling, and 70 percent had less itching. They also reported improvement in feelings of fatigue and heaviness in their legs.
• The active ingredient, called escin, strengthened the walls of small blood vessels in lab studies.
• The usual dose is 300 milligrams of HCSE (containing 50 to 75 milligrams of escin per dose) every 12 hours for up to 12 weeks.

• Standing and even sitting still at a desk all day allows blood to pool. Push it back towards your heart as often as you can.
• If you're sitting, point and flex your feet to boost circulation.
• If you're on your feet, get the blood moving several times an hour. Rise up on your toes, shift your weight from one foot to the other, bend your legs and walk in place.

• They can ease aching and swelling if you have varicose veins and may help prevent them, too.
• When researchers measured the legs of 20 people with varicose veins, they found that all grades of compression stockings reduced swelling. Medium- and strong-grade stockings worked best.
• British researchers found that this hosiery can reduce the amount of blood pooling in leg veins by about 20 percent.

• Spanish researchers found that those who enjoyed a glass of wine every day had a 50 percent lower risk of varicose veins than those who drank less — or more.
• Other research suggests that flavonoids and saponins in wine can help keep blood vessels flexible and healthy.

Genetics, inactivity, a job that keeps you on your feet and pregnancy or other factors can all lead to varicose veins. But if you take steps to care for your legs, the chances of getting them could go down significantly.