Autoimmune Disease Impact on Vein Health
Autoimmune diseases don’t cause venous disease, but associated sedentary lifestyle changes and weight gain are both risk factors for developing blood clots, varicose veins, and spider veins.
Knowing this, if you have an autoimmune disease, we recommend our conservative Better Veins for Life® principles. The goal of these principles is to help you feel better, slow the progression of your vein disease and lower the risks of blood clots, swelling, and skin changes.
We work in tandem with your primary care physician and autoimmune specialists to optimize your own immune system, too. Depending on your symptoms and level of disability, we may recommend:
- Pump your calf muscles whenever you can. Exercise is difficult when you’re in chronic pain or have other symptoms like dizziness, vertigo, or fatigue. You can do this while sitting or lying down. Pump your calf muscles to coax the blood flow back up to your heart. This helps prevent blood from pooling in the veins.
- Speak with your doctor about your weight and healthy ways you can reduce the burden of extra weight on your veins. We know chronic pain and other conditions impact the ability of some people to lose weight. Do your best, understanding that the added weight puts a strain on your veins, weakening them and increasing the risk of varicose veins
- Discuss treating your vein disease with your VSS Team. Correction of underlying vein disease using our VSS Comprehensive Vein Care protocol can lower your risks of blood clots and improve your quality of life.
- Optimize your autoimmune disease care with the goal of improving your quality of life and overall care. . .
Our Better Veins for Life® principles can be followed by most people with autoimmune diseases and other chronic health conditions. These include avoiding high heels and restrictive clothing that pinches, opting for compression stockings to improve circulation, and leg elevation.
Read more about our Better Veins for Life® principles.
