Women's legs in fashionable shoes look very attractive. But sometimes you really want to throw off your shoes and give your feet a break. What do they get tired of and how to keep their legs light for many years?
Undoubtedly, the owners of beautiful legs feel more confident, successful. But forcing our feet to work all day, we rarely give them proper attention and care. Meanwhile, some symptoms require an immediate response, others require gradual changes in our lifestyle.
Heavy legs
The appearance in the afternoon of a feeling of heaviness in the legs, as if the legs were "poured with lead," is a sign of insufficiency of the deep veins of the lower extremities. As a rule, the disease has a hereditary predisposition. However, a number of circumstances significantly increase the risk of developing this ailment: these include overweight, pregnancy, and “sedentary” work.
Your actions
• Start going to the pool: swimming is an excellent remedy for tired legs.
• In the evening after work, try to “unload” your legs: put them on a chair, ottoman or stretch them out on a sofa with a pillow.
• Do not get carried away with thermal procedures - hot baths and body wraps, steam and sauna: staying in them activates blood circulation, adding work veins.
• If you have to sit for a long time, use compression golfs or stockings. According to the degree of compressive effect, they are divided into prophylactic (10−12 mm Hg) and therapeutic (more than 20 mm Hg). A doctor or a specialist in knitwear at a pharmacy will help you choose the right compression and size. At the same time, keep in mind: ordinary tights, even in 100 den, have nothing to do with medical ones and do not give the necessary lifting effect.
Swelling
To determine if your legs are swelling, gently press a finger on the skin of the front surface of the lower leg in its lower third. If after this there is a hole, the test is positive. Does swelling of the legs disappear after sleep? This is often one of the signs of varicose veins. In this case, do not postpone a visit to a phlebologist - a specialist in vein diseases. Remember: advanced varicose veins can lead to serious complications - trophic ulcers on the legs, thrombophlebitis.
Your actions
• In case of varicose veins, you should consider changing your job if you are a salesman, hairdresser, cook and you have to stand for a long time.
• Do not wear tight underwear, tight jeans, tight belts - such equipment squeezes the veins of the legs and disrupts blood circulation.
• More often include vegetables, fruits, bran in the menu. The plant fiber they contain helps the intestines work without failures and thus prevents constipation, which increases pressure in the venous wall. Pay attention to buckwheat. This cereal is a leader in the content of the natural antioxidant quercetin. It not only strengthens blood vessels, but also has an anti-cancer effect.
• Limit salt intake - it contributes to swelling. Instead, add spicy herbs, herbs, lemon juice to the dishes. Also, avoid foods high in sodium (chips, salted nuts, canned food, sausages, soy sauce, ketchup).
Cramps
The appearance of leg cramps at night often accompanies venous disease, but may also be due to a lack of mineral salts in the body - calcium, magnesium, potassium. This is especially true for those who are actively involved in sports, often lifts weights, likes to steam in a bathhouse or flaunt high-heeled shoes. And in the heat of the violation of the water-salt balance is not uncommon.
Your actions
• Ensure regular intake of potassium and calcium. These important elements can be found in dairy products, oranges, bananas, dried apricots, dates, zucchini, jacket-baked potatoes, carrots, broccoli, spinach. Do not forget about magnesium.Most of it is found in avocados, cocoa, dark chocolate, nuts, lettuce, peas, green beans.
• Observe the water regime: drink at least 1.5–2 liters of fluid per day (unless there are special contraindications). Best for this is mineral water without gas, rosehip infusion, green tea.
• Rub overnight feet with warming ointment. In the morning and in the evening, apply a light lotion to the skin of the feet with light massage movements (for 1 tsp of calendula solution 1 drop of peppermint oil).
Pain in the feet
Foot pains may be symptoms of arthrosis, arthritis, gout. But most often the reason is banal - flat feet. A simple test will help you figure this out. Take a piece of paper, wet your feet and stand on it. If on paper you see only the heel and toes, and there is a large empty distance between them, then you have a normal high arch of the foot. If the print has a wide footprint, all the voids are filled, then you most likely have flat feet that need to be corrected. Consult with an orthopedist: if necessary, the doctor will help you choose orthopedic shoes or special insoles.
Your actions
• Leave trendy shoes for the holidays. The rest of the time, give preference to shoes and boots with a comfortable shoe, a small heel (3-4 cm) and orthopedic insoles.
• Make it a rule to do a little gymnastics: alternately walk on toes, on heels, on the inner and outer arches of the feet.
• Before going to bed, do foot baths for 15–20 minutes. You can add a handful of sea salt, herbal infusion, or 2-3 drops of peppermint or lavender essential oil to the water.
Corns and Co. °
Pay special attention to the skin of the legs, in particular the feet. In the summer, when we wear shoes without stockings or walk barefoot along the beach, a variety of problems can arise - from unpleasant corns to fungus. If you are concerned about any formations, warts, growths, cracks, peeling of the skin, do not be too lazy to consult a doctor.
Your actions
• If your feet have dry skin, make baths by adding one glass of milk and 1 table to the water. a spoonful of almond oil. Then use pumice or pedicure tools to remove keratinized parts of the skin. Wipe your feet thoroughly and then apply cream to dry skin.
• For dry calluses, try a folk remedy: cut along the leaf of aloe, put the pulp to the problem area and bandage the leg overnight.
Very helpful foot massage. It improves blood circulation and nutrition of the tissues of the feet, helps to get rid of fatigue accumulated during the day and to find lightness in the legs. The main thing is that you can do it yourself! To do this, allocate only 10 minutes a day.
● Sit back with your legs crossed in Turkish. Start the massage by rubbing with your hands the back of the foot and the area of the Achilles tendon, as if stretching it.
● When fixing the ankle with one hand, gently rotate the foot in one direction or the other with the other. After that, pull the sock on you, then on yourself.
● Grasp the foot with your palms. With rubbing movements, walk along the toe pads, and then across the entire foot.
● With the edge of the hand, knead the outer edge of the foot, then with the thumbs with soft movements - the entire foot. And don’t forget about the heels!
● At the end of the procedure, raise your leg and shake it.
● After the massage, place your feet on a slight elevation and rest for 15 minutes.
Expert Opinion
The assistant to the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at the All-Russian State Medical Academy named after N.N. Burdenko, therapist, candidate of medical sciences Olga Alekseevna MUBARAKSHINA
Varicose veins are now increasingly common. Overweight, prolonged standing, sitting, weight lifting, and general physical inactivity negatively affect the state of the vessels. The influence of adverse factors, coupled with a hereditary predisposition leads to weakness of the walls of blood vessels, poor functioning of the valves located inside the veins, and ultimately to stagnation of blood.
After some time, in addition to cosmetic imperfections, fatigue appears, a feeling of heaviness in the legs, swelling of the feet and ankles. Further more serious complications are possible. To prevent the occurrence of varicose veins and stop the development of the disease, you need to act in several directions at once: reduce weight, regularly do physiotherapy exercises, wear compression hosiery and apply medications.
Now in pharmacies you can buy a number of funds that strengthen the venous walls - venotonic. These drugs may be in the form of gels, ointments, and tablets. In addition to venotonics, heparin-based ointments and gels such as Trombless can also help problem veins. They reduce inflammation, swelling and pain, preventing the formation of new blood clots and resolving existing ones.
TEXT: ELENA SHVEDOVA. PHOTO: CAMERA PRESS / FOTODOM.RU (1); OLGA LYUBKIN / LENETS_TAN / MIROSLAWA DROZDOWSKI / CEDROV / FOTOLIA.COM (4); A. PLATONOV / CFA "BURDA" (1).
Materials prepared by Julia Dekanova
