Can rhubarb foot bath cure varicose veins?

Rhubarb is a very common medicinal material in daily life. It has the effect of treating many diseases and is therefore deeply loved by people. Varicose veins are a disease that not only causes great harm to the patient's physical health, but also affects their normal life and work, so it is particularly important to find a scientific and effective treatment method. Soaking feet in rhubarb is effective in treating varicose veins, but it is not suitable for all types of varicose veins.

1. Varicose veins

Varicose veins refer to the tortuosity and dilation of veins due to factors such as blood stasis and weak venous walls. Varicose veins can occur in many parts of the body. For example, hemorrhoids are actually a type of varicose veins. Other clinically visible varicose veins include esophageal varicose veins, varicocele, abdominal wall varicose veins, etc. The most common site of varicose veins is the lower extremities. It is worth emphasizing that varicose veins themselves may be a secondary manifestation of other lesions, such as vena cava occlusion, and the primary disease should be actively treated.

2. Rhubarb Foot Bath

Rhubarb is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine. It is sold in all Chinese medicine stores and is easy to buy. The usage of foot soaking is as follows: select 50 grams of rhubarb, mash it and wrap it with gauze, put it in a basin, boil water for 15 minutes and pour it into the basin. The amount of water should be enough to submerge the ankle bone. Use this medicine to soak your feet, soak your feet for 20 minutes twice a day, morning and evening, and replace the rhubarb every two days.

3. Rhubarb foot bath for varicose veins

Rhubarb is a laxative in traditional Chinese medicine. It is cold in nature and its main function in the human body is to keep the gastrointestinal tract unobstructed. Rhubarb is widely used in clinical practice, and its medicinal preparations include raw rhubarb (Shengjun) and wine-processed rhubarb (Jiujun). Theoretically, it is feasible to use rhubarb externally to clear away heat and detoxify varicose veins. However, if rhubarb is used to treat all varicose veins, or if only rhubarb is used as a single herb, then this treatment method is definitely unscientific. The specific principle is that rhubarb can only be used to treat varicose veins when it is combined with superficial phlebitis. However, for complete varicose veins, especially when the symptoms are severe, the effect of using rhubarb is not good.

There are two main causes of varicose veins: one is that the patient himself suffers from valvular disease, and the other is that the patient's deep venous membrane is not smooth, which is mostly caused by long-term standing. Certain occupational groups, such as nurses, teachers, salespersons, etc. are prone to varicose veins. In clinical practice, if varicose veins encounter deep vein valve obstruction, conservative treatment must generally be adopted, but rhubarb alone cannot be used as the only medicine. Other methods of clearing heat and detoxifying, and unblocking meridians and activating blood circulation must also be used.