Varicose veins: bloodletting vs keyhole surgery – how Chinese and Western medicine treat the condition
Painful and unsightly, varicose veins can affect adults of all ages. Non-invasive treatments are available under anaesthetic, or a Chinese medicine doctor can draw blood from your veins using a red-hot needle
Hei was only 23 when she noticed knobbly blue veins in the back of her leg. “My colleagues and friends brought it up first. They said the veins were really ugly, and that made me want to cover up,” says Hei, now 28.
Hei has a condition called varicose veins. “Healthy leg veins have one-way valves that ensure blood is transported up to the heart against gravity. But when these valves malfunction and become two-way, gravity is allowed to do its job and blood ends up pooling in the veins, causing an increase in pressure,” explains Dr Chad Tse, a specialist in general surgery.
“This could cause swelling and a feelings of heaviness and fatigue in the legs, cramps, and protruding veins.”
While the condition is usually associated with older people, whose veins have endured more wear and tear over the years, it can also happen to younger people, like Hei, who have family members with varicose veins.
People who spend a lot of time standing, such as restaurant workers, are also more likely to get varicose veins, as are pregnant women, whose leg veins may be affected by the weight of their babies bearing down on them.