From this article you will learn: when appropriate treatment of varicose leeches, what are the results of such therapy.
Hirudotherapy is one of the best methods of symptomatic treatment of varicose veins. In the saliva of the leech contains a large number of chemically active substances that have a therapeutic effect on human tissue. The use of leeches helps to reduce the intensity of symptoms of varicose, although it does not eliminate the root cause of the disease.
What results in hirudotherapy with varicose veins:
- Removal of inflammation from the veins. This effect is achieved due to the presence in the saliva of the leech of histamine-like substances, which have an anti-inflammatory effect.
- Prevents formation of blood clots. Hirudin, which produces a leech, is a natural substance that dilutes blood. It prevents clotting of blood for several hours, which significantly improves its movement along the vessels.
- Improvement of microcirculation. The leech sucks up stagnant blood, which is replaced by a more recent one from the arterial bed. Thus, the amount of oxygen and nutrients that cells receive is increased.
Also, hirudotherapy with varicose veins helps to slow the growth of connective tissue in the walls of veins - some substances that secrete a leech have a resorptive effect on scar tissue.
Elimination of inflammation and liquefaction of blood leads to the temporary normalization of venous outflow. Due to this, the swelling of the legs and pain are reduced.
Leap therapy with varicose veins is an additional therapy. This technique will help relieve pain, swelling in the legs and reduce the risk of thrombophlebitis. But simultaneously with hirudotherapy, it is necessary to carry out the basic treatment.
Treatment sessions are conducted by a girudotherapist or phlebologist.
Indications for the use of hirudotherapy for varicose veins
The holding of hirudotherapy sessions must have readings, and is not performed in unreasonable cases. Absolute indications for such treatment:
- Phlebitis. Inflammation of the walls of the veins requires complex treatment, which is aimed at eliminating inflammation and preventing thrombosis.
- Deep ischemia of the tissues of the lower extremities. The lack of oxygen in the tissues can lead to the formation of ulcers and necrosis. Improvement of microcirculation by means of leeches can eliminate this phenomenon.
- The patient has a tendency to form blood clots. There are people who have a tendency to form blood clots. This is due to the high activity of blood coagulation factors, such patients need the use of anticoagulants or hirudotherapy.
- Diabetes mellitus. Patients with this disease of the endocrine system tend to develop trophic ulcers, so the use of leeches will be appropriate, in order to normalize the blood supply of the lower extremities.
Hirudotherapy is widely used after safenectomy( surgical intervention to remove large veins), which significantly speeds up the process of rehabilitation and recovery.
Click on the picture to enlarge How the procedure is performed
Treatment of varicose veins with leeches should be performed by a hirudotherapist or phlebologist.
The course of hirudotherapy with varicose veins consists of 5-7 sessions. Between them there should be a gap of at least 3 days. This is necessary to prevent the accumulation of hirudin in the blood, which can lead to bleeding.
The doctor puts 5 to 10 leeches per leg( or another part of the body affected by varicose veins).It depends on the intensity and prevalence of the process, age characteristics and the presence of diseases of other organs. The right choice of location and quantity helps to achieve the optimal therapeutic effect.
Leeches should be placed not on the varicose veins themselves, but near them. Thus, the inflammation of the walls after the procedure is prevented, and the local improvement of microcirculation in the tissues is maximized.
The procedure lasts from 5 to 40 minutes. The first sessions are shorter than the subsequent sessions. After the end of the manipulation, aseptic dressings are applied to the attachment sites of leeches. They are necessary in order to prevent infection in the wound from biting, and to absorb blood and lymph, which is released due to the dilution of blood.
After the session, leeches are destroyed - this allows you to exclude the infection of patients from each other.
After the session: limitations and recommendations of
- Patients are recommended to observe bed rest after a hirudotherapy treatment session;preferably with raised legs. This is necessary to strengthen the venous outflow of blood under its own weight.
- In the first hours after manipulation, you need to increase the amount of fluid used to prolong the effect of dilution of blood from hirudin.
- Bed rest allows you to reduce the amount of blood in the venous leg system, which will lead to faster healing of the wound and reduce the amount of discharge from them.
- During the course of hirudotherapy, it is necessary to refrain from drinking alcohol, since it is capable of intensifying or weakening the effect of the leech enzymes of the saliva, which is undesirable and is capable of damaging the treatment.
Contraindications
Despite a wide range of applications, leeches with varicose veins have a number of contraindications.
- Hirudotherapy is unacceptable for blood diseases, which are accompanied by impaired coagulation. These can be both acquired pathologies( various forms of anemia, leukemia, thrombocytopenia), and congenital( haemophilia or the absence of other coagulation factors).Conducting hirudotherapy sessions in such patients can lead to the development of bleeding and hemorrhages of various locations.
- It is impossible to use such treatment for suppurative processes on the legs. If there are trophic ulcers or areas of necrosis on the legs, then this method of treatment is not suitable. This restriction is based on the fact that dilution of blood can lead to the spread of pus on the body.
- It is forbidden to perform hirudotherapy sessions for patients with low blood pressure, as hirudin can cause an even greater drop in it.
It is also necessary to establish the tolerability of substances released by the leech and the individual response of the organism to themselves. To do this, for a short period of time, usually 10-15 minutes, put one leech on a healthy area of the body. After this, the result is evaluated: redness, the appearance of itching or excessive swelling of this area is a sign of an allergic reaction. In this case, hirudotherapy can not be carried out.
