Weight-related struggles are extremely common, and for many of us, they feel like an uphill battle that never ends. For some people, a focused discipline of adjusting your diet and increasing exercise is enough to hit those weight goals. But what happens when your body seems to be fighting against you?
For those who struggle with the nagging symptoms of a vein condition, losing weight is extremely difficult. It’s not just about willpower; it’s about physical capability. For that reason, one of the most common questions patients ask me is whether or not vein treatment will help them finally lose weight.
For anyone wanting to shed a few pounds, movement is an essential part of that journey. But the presence of a vein condition brings symptoms that make any kind of activity difficult, if not impossible, to endure. Vein condition symptoms like swollen legs, painful aching, and constant fatigue can completely sabotage a person's goals of adopting a healthier lifestyle.
Frequently, patients get demoralized at their apparent lack of motivation. They feel exhausted and blame themselves, not realizing that this exhaustion is, in fact, a byproduct of inflammation from a vein condition.
In short, while a vein treatment isn't a "weight loss procedure" in the surgical sense, it will alleviate those symptoms, giving a person the energy and ability to get moving again. Let's explore why this happens and how treating your veins might be the missing link in your health journey.
Have you ever wondered why, despite your best intentions, you just can't seem to muster the energy to go for that evening walk? It might not be "laziness"...it might be your veins.
The presence of a vein condition causes vein reflux. This is a fancy medical term for stagnant blood flow in the legs. Instead of pumping efficiently back up to your heart, blood pools in the leg area. This poor circulation then leads to severe inflammation throughout the entire body.
And here is the kicker: inflammation leads to fatigue.
This fatigue is really the core reason why so many people who suffer from a vein condition also suffer from gradual weight gain. It is a slow, creeping process. The fatigue people experience with a vein condition gets worse over time, and eventually, the scale starts to creep up.
Sometimes weight gain happens simply because your legs hurt. Inflammation causes pain, achiness, and swelling in the lower legs, feet, and ankles. To relieve these symptoms, many of my patients spend their evenings sitting in a recliner with their legs elevated to try and find relief.
It’s a natural response to pain - you want to rest. But when "resting" becomes the only position where you aren't in discomfort, your activity levels plummet.
Sometimes it is because of sheer exhaustion. Patients simply don't have the energy to do the things they want to do. Once they sit down for the evening, they're done.
For some, they are so fatigued by the time they see me that they have ceased any sort of activity from the time they get home from work to the time they go to bed. I have heard countless stories of people who used to be active gardeners, walkers, or players of tennis, who now find the couch to be their only refuge.
Regardless of the reason, the result is that exercise seems impossible. People feel demoralized and depressed, unable to engage in family activities, play with children or grandchildren, or even just go for a walk around the block. They want to be healthy but feel like they don't have the willpower, often blaming themselves when it's actually a treatable vein condition.
The good news is that patients typically notice that their legs start feeling better within a few days after the first treatment. It feels like a weight has literally been lifted off their legs.
Energy levels often go up within the first few weeks. After treatment, inflammation in the body is reduced. As a result, people feel better, their "brain fog" clears, and they have a better emotional state. When you aren't fighting constant low-grade pain, your mood improves significantly.
I always recommend that people wait until treatments start to begin if they are struggling with any type of exercise program. Trying to force yourself to exercise on inflamed, painful legs is a recipe for failure. Once inflammation is reduced, you'll have much better success and actually enjoy moving your body again.
You might be wondering, "Is my weight gain normal for this condition?" The amount of weight gain can really vary from person to person. However, from my experience and research, it seems that people who suffer from a vein condition tend to gain around 10-15 pounds per year if the condition is left untreated.
That might not sound like a lot in one month, but over three or four years, that is 30 to 60 pounds of extra weight that puts even more pressure on your veins. It becomes a vicious cycle.
One particular testimony from a patient comes to mind when I think of this subject. I had a patient who would come home from work and sit for seven hours before going to bed at night. He wasn't lazy; he was physically depleted. This fatigue and inactivity caused significant weight gain over time. However, after a vein treatment procedure, he was successfully able to lose over 80 pounds!
Why? Because he finally had the energy to move. He got his life back.
Many of my patients see an immediate improvement in their symptoms, including fatigue, after their first treatment. But how do you know if you are one of them?
You don't always need to see bulging, ropey veins on your legs to have a problem. In fact, many severe vein conditions are hidden beneath the surface.
This checklist of the invisible signs of a vein condition can help you determine if you might benefit from an evaluation:
If you answered yes to a few of these, an evaluation with a vein specialist or a free vein screening will clarify whether or not a vein condition is present.