The disease stalks office workers. It seems simple but the risk is unpredictable

Mr. Minh Nhat (29 years old, Hanoi) is a communications officer for a company in Hanoi. His daily job is to script and direct the program. Mr. Nhat often sits for many hours at the office to work, sometimes having to stand for 3 or 4 hours continuously running programs.

Over the past 3 or 4 months, Mr. Nhat's legs have been painful and numb. The 29-year-old man shared that the leg pain had appeared for many years but after a while it went away, so he didn't pay attention to it, just thinking it was due to walking too much.

However, recently the pain has gotten worse, he has cramps, and his legs are sometimes numb and unable to feel. At one point, while sitting, he stood up and a sharp pain hit him on the table and in his calves, making him unsteady on his feet and immediately had to sit down.

After seeing a doctor, Mr. Nhat was diagnosed with varicose veins in both legs.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Cuc (31 years old, marketing staff for a tutoring center system in Hanoi) also has leg pain after sitting in the office for a long time and rarely walking.

Ms. Cuc said her job is to design, post advertisements, advise, finalize and arrange classes for students at the center. Every day, Ms. Cuc sits from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the phone. Except for lunch, she spends all her time sitting at her desk.

Many days when she gets home because she still has work to do, she continues to sit at her desk until midnight.

"There were days when I sat for 10 to 12 hours in a row ," Ms. Cuc said, adding that at first she felt okay. However, after not exercising for a long time, she began to feel joint pain, especially in her back and legs.

Worried that she had problems with spondylosis or disc herniation, Ms. Cuc bought a mini massage machine to bring to work to use when her back aches. However, the woman ignored the leg problem.

Recently, she noticed her legs were swollen, with a feeling of heaviness, pain, and blue veins. At first, the woman thought it was because she was sitting too much and her blood was not circulating. The pain symptoms disappeared when she lay down to rest with her legs elevated.

However, the pain became more and more severe, Ms. Cuc had cramps at night, and the skin on her legs became increasingly gray. Too worried about her health, she went to the doctor and was diagnosed with varicose veins in her legs. If she was a little late, she would have to have surgery.

"Luckily, I only need to take medicine, exercise, and change my lifestyle," Ms. Cuc said.

Doctor Doan Du Manh, a member of the Vietnam Vascular Disease Association, said that varicose veins often appear in obese people, the elderly, pregnant women, especially people who often stand or sit for long periods of time such as people. office.

According to Dr. Manh, office workers are susceptible to varicose veins due to limited movement, sitting for 6 to 8 hours all day, which does not ensure smooth blood circulation, causing blood stasis in the veins. Besides the factors of sitting too much and being sedentary, many girls wear high heels and tight pants... which also increase the risk of varicose veins.

The expert said that the progression of varicose veins is often silent and unclear, so it is often overlooked in the early stages, when external symptoms are discovered.

"Usually people don't think they have varicose veins but think it's due to calcium deficiency, so they often go to the hospital when the condition is severe ," Dr. Manh said, adding that varicose veins will initially have symptoms such as: swelling of the lower legs, with a feeling of heaviness in the legs, blue and red veins, pain and fatigue.

If it gets worse, you will feel leg pain. As evening approaches, the feeling of heaviness in the legs, aches and pains, leg swelling, tingling, and cramps will increase. Symptoms will go away when resting and lying with your feet elevated.

In the next stage, the superficial veins under the skin become zigzag, and there are episodes of thrombophlebitis causing fever, infection, and bleeding trophic ulcers. More dangerously, the patient may develop a blood clot that forms in the vein and separates from the vein leading to the heart, causing pulmonary embolism and death.

Dr. Manh said that if detected early, varicose veins can be treated simply by changing lifestyle.

Patients need to proactively move more, practice sports (swimming, walking, cycling...), drink enough water, supplement fiber, and fruits containing vitamins E and C.

After about 45 minutes to 1 hour, you should stand up to drink water, exercise gently, and rotate your ankles and wrists.

For women, limit wearing high heels, tight pants... increase blood circulation from the legs to the heart. Every day, spend 30 minutes doing light exercise. Lose weight to prevent risks.