Varicose vein treatment in traditional Chinese medicine

Varicose veins are a condition of vascular dilation, which can cause endogenous blood stasis and invasion of cold air. Therefore, when varicose veins occur, limb pain and chills will occur. Patients need to use blood-activating and blood-stasis-removing drugs to relieve the symptoms, and they should strengthen exercise in daily life to force out the cold air in the body. Blood circulation can be promoted by regulating the spleen and stomach and warming the meridians.

1. Cold Stagnation Method

"If cold evil stays in the meridians, the blood will cry, and if the blood cries, the meridians will be blocked." The invasion of cold evil is most likely to cause blood contraction and endogenous blood stasis. The occurrence of varicose veins is related to the invasion of evil cold. The early clinical manifestations are limb pain, fear of cold, coldness, pale complexion, dull tongue, thin white or greasy white fur, tight and astringent pulse at the inch position, and other signs of cold stagnation and blood stasis. The treatment should be combined with warming the meridians and dispelling cold and promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and good results have been achieved in clinical application.

This method is mainly designed for blood deficiency and cold, blood stagnation due to cold, poor blood and qi circulation, and obstruction in the meridians. The blood can be warmed and circulated by warming and unblocking the meridians, dispelling cold and removing blood stasis, so that blood stasis can be removed and new blood can be regenerated and blood can flow freely.

2. Regulating Qi and Blood

Qi is the driving force of human body's vital activities. The production of blood depends on the metabolism of Qi, and the circulation of blood depends on the promotion of Qi. "Blood follows Qi, and Qi is the commander of blood." If Qi is sufficient, the vital activities are vigorous, the blood metabolism is abundant, and the circulation is smooth. On the contrary, if Qi is deficient, the blood metabolism is insufficient, the blood circulation is unable to be promoted, and then the blood stagnates inside. The occurrence of varicose vein stasis is often closely related to Qi deficiency. Clinically, when signs of blood stasis and Qi stagnation appear, there are also signs of Qi deficiency. Regulating Qi and blood to treat it often has good results.

This method aims to invigorate Qi and dredge the meridians, so as to promote the vitality of Qi, stimulate blood circulation, and remove blood stasis without harming the body, thus achieving the goal of restoring the body's vitality and unblocking the meridians. According to the TCM theory that "Qi is the commander of blood" and "when Qi moves, blood moves", this method is particularly effective for those with blood stasis, especially in the collaterals.

3. Heat-clearing, detoxification and blood stasis removal method

External invasion of heat toxins or accumulation of evil qi turning into heat can cause internal accumulation of evil qi, and "the blood will be fried into lumps when heated" and "the flesh will rot when the heat is excessive". The affected area will become red, swollen and painful, or locally burning, or red and hard cords, or rotting and fus, and the pain will continue, and may even be accompanied by symptoms such as fever throughout the body, irritability and thirst. In patients with concurrent infection and gangrene, the above-mentioned signs of heat, toxicity and blood stasis may be manifested clinically. In the clinical treatment of such diseases, if only blood circulation is used, it will not only be difficult to achieve results, but it may even cause the heat evil to become rampant, the evil toxins to spread, and make the condition worse. The correct treatment method is to clear away heat, detoxify and resolve blood stasis, heat toxicity transforms into fire, and internal blood vessels are blocked by blood stasis. It can clear away heat and toxins and unclog the blood vessels.

4. Dehumidification and turbidity removal method

Varicose veins can cause limb edema. The important commonality is that there is both blood stasis and water swelling, and the blood stasis and water swelling affect each other, making the disease difficult to heal for a long time. In the clinical treatment of such patients, we remove dampness and water, and "remove the stagnant and old" to unclog the blood vessels. The combination of the two will benefit the diuretic effect by activating blood circulation, and diuretic effect will help activate blood circulation. Activating blood circulation will remove stagnation, divert dampness and turbidity, remove blood stasis and dredge the blood vessels, thus achieving the purpose of removing dampness and water and unblocking the blood vessels.

5. Cooling Blood and Thrombolysis

The clinical manifestations of varicose veins include hemorrhagic fever, redness and burning pain in the affected area, or bruises, the burning pain is worse at night, the tongue is red, and there is little or no coating. Modern experiments have proved that the combination of cooling blood and dissolving blood clots can reduce blood viscosity, anti-coagulate, dissolve blood clots, improve blood circulation, improve blood oxygen supply to tissues and organs, reduce inflammatory exudation, prevent the spread of inflammation, and can inhibit bacteria, resist viruses, detoxify, and relieve pain.

6. Blood-nourishing and muscle-generating method

"If the stagnant blood is not removed, new blood will not be produced." In some peripheral vascular diseases, such as varicose veins in the late stage, long-term congestion often leads to weakness, resulting in dry skin, desquamation, slow growth, hypertrophy and deformation of toes and nails, sparse and falling hair, or ulcers that do not heal for a long time and pale flesh on the ulcer surface, which are signs of blood deficiency and malnutrition. This method is suitable for patients with neurotrophic disorders and the above-mentioned symptoms during the nutritional disorder period, muscle atrophy, and disappearance of pulsation in medium and small arteries. Its effect is what Chinese medicine calls qi stagnation and blood stasis, which will turn into heat over time.

7. Blood Activating and Stasis Removing Method

If there is severe or long-lasting blood stasis in the peripheral blood vessels, the patient will experience severe, persistent pain, insomnia, or the disease cannot be cured for a long time. In this case, the patient needs to use blood-activating and blood-activating drugs to break up the stubborn blood stasis and alleviate the disease. This is one of the theoretical bases for the use of blood-activating and blood-activating drugs to prevent and treat thrombosis. This effect is strong and if used properly, the therapeutic effect is definite.

8. Method of dredging meridians (blood system, microcirculation)

Improving limb ischemia is the general treatment principle. The drug has obvious effects of removing fibers, lowering blood lipids, reducing blood viscosity, inhibiting platelet aggregation, relieving vasospasm, promoting collateral vessel formation, unblocking microcirculation, protecting vascular endothelium and increasing limb blood flow. It can enhance the elasticity of blood vessels, adjust capillary permeability, nail fold capillary loops, and restore purple-red to normal (light red).

This method has the effects of removing blood stasis, unblocking meridians, relieving numbness and relieving pain. According to the characteristics of TCM's holistic concept, it can remove the obstruction of wind, cold and dampness, and regulate the qi and blood throughout the body, thereby achieving the effect of unblocking blood vessels, relieving numbness and relieving blood stasis.

9. Nourishing Yin and Invigorating the Kidney

Nourishing yin and tonifying the kidney works by regulating the body's immunity, which can improve the stability of weakened immunity and enhance nonspecific immunity. It has the effect of promoting antibody formation, strengthening the phagocytic function of the reticuloendothelial system, eliminating harmful immune complex reactions, and inhibiting hyperimmunity. It has a general therapeutic significance for autoimmune diseases (it can inhibit pathological damage caused by antigen-antibody immune reactions).

Peripheral vascular disease with blood stasis as the basic pathology is essentially the deformation, degeneration, inflammation, thrombosis and vascular nerve dysfunction of peripheral blood vessels. The clinical application of the combination method of TCM "activation therapy" can regulate the body's physiological functions, affect pathological changes in the body, and regulate, repair and compensate the diseased tissues and organs, so that the disease can be cured or improved.