The holiday season is upon us! This is a time for spending time with loved ones, traveling, shopping, chilly weather, and great food. But let us not forget that, with all the joys this season brings, it can also bring stress. And this stress is even greater for those living with health and medical conditions while they manage their holiday plans, including those who suffer from a vein condition.
What I see happening is very typical over the holidays. A vein condition makes your legs achy and causes fatigue. It affects your ability to enjoy your holiday events and, even more importantly, it interferes with sleep and your ability to function during a very stressful time.
But just because you suffer from a vein condition doesn't mean you can't enjoy holiday festivities. It just means that you might have to be more intentional with your healthy habits and practices than the average person. Here are a few tips you can easily put into practice to better care for your vein health during this time.
In the video below, I discuss tips for reducing the risk of blood clots and the overall discomfort of a vein condition during the holidays, especially if you will be traveling and sitting for long periods.
Wear Compression Stockings
Compression stockings can relieve many symptoms of venous disease and prevent varicose and spider veins, or keep them from progressing. We have provided a great deal of information on compression stockings in some of our previous blogs, as we are firm believers in their effectiveness and ability to promote vein health. From my perspective as a vein care specialist, wearing compression stockings is going to give you the most bang for your buck over the holidays and throughout the year.
Elevate Your Legs
Keep your legs elevated whenever possible to aid blood flow. When you are traveling, avoid crossing your legs for long periods. And if you are falling asleep while in a chair or on the couch, keeping warm next to the fire, make sure your legs stay elevated as well. If you are doing lots of walking and standing, make time to rest and elevate your legs to help reduce any inflammation and swelling.
Keep Active
Keeping active and exercising despite your busy schedule and traveling will greatly help the calf pump blood back to your heart. Keeping active by walking, running, or biking can greatly help with this. And if you are traveling or find yourself somewhere with an indoor or outdoor pool, take advantage! Exercising or walking in the water, particularly late in the day, can help relieve venous congestion and swelling.
Try These Exercises
If your holiday plans involve traveling via plane and car, or if you are simply taking a little more time to relax around the house, sitting for hours without movement causes your blood flow to be restricted, pooling in the lower legs. This causes inflammation and pain. There are exercises you can do when you find yourself having to sit for long periods that will help alleviate the pain from a vein condition.
Take breaks to stand up and walk around. Go for walks in the fresh air, stand at the back of a chair, and do calf raises. Simple exercises will help get your blood flowing again and loosen tight muscles. And there are, in fact, exercise techniques you can perform while seated in a car or plane. Engage your calf muscle pump by lifting your toe and squeezing, as well as lifting your knee up and down several times in a row. Do this repeatedly and as much as you can during your trip to promote healthy circulation to and from your legs.
Choose The Right Shoes
High heels can inhibit your calf muscle pump from working, so reserve wearing heels for only especially special occasions, or depending on the severity of your condition and symptoms, omit them from your wardrobe altogether. Trust us, it's not worth the pain and you will thank yourself later!
Everyone deserves a healthy and happy holiday, however, that may look! Our team of vein specialists would love to be a resource on your journey to living your best life. We've helped hundreds of patients treat their vein symptoms so that they can get back to being active and enjoying life to the fullest.
