Horse chestnut for varicose veins is a fairly common remedy; when dilating veins, many people think of it first, since its medicinal properties provide a quick and lasting positive result. The advantage of this plant is that there are many ready-made products based on it; to purchase them, you just need to go to the nearest pharmacy, in addition, you can prepare effective drugs yourself. Each patient independently decides which option to prefer, but in any case, before using one or another remedy, it is advisable to consult a doctor so that it does not cause harm.
Horse chestnut is a tree reaching a height of 25 meters with a dense crown or a shrub only 1-1.5 meters high. As a rule, flowering begins in May, and the inflorescences themselves are beautiful white and pink candles. Most often, they are used in the treatment of varicose veins.
The flowers and kernels of the plant contain vitamins, minerals, tannins and other useful components. Esculin and escin are of particular importance. The first substance affects the circulatory system, accelerating blood circulation and preventing the formation of blood clots. The second component tones the muscles and helps normalize blood viscosity.
Thus, after using a product based on horse chestnut, you can see the following improvements:
If you prefer to make your own horse chestnut remedy at home, you need to know when and how to harvest this plant correctly. Proper preparation determines half the success of the entire therapy as a whole, so the recommendations must be taken carefully.
If inflorescences or leaves are needed for a recipe, they are harvested in the spring, usually in May, when flowering has just begun. To clean the raw material from contaminants while preserving the beneficial substances in it, you need to rinse it under cold water and dry it on paper or a clean cloth in a dark place. It is recommended to dry the inflorescences for a month, stirring them from time to time to prevent the formation of mold. Otherwise, it will be impossible to use dried flowers to treat varicose veins.
To collect horse chestnut kernels, you need to wait until autumn, and specifically until the moment when the fruits acquire their final round shape and begin to ripen. You should not collect ripe kernels, since they practically do not contain the necessary substances. Some recipes require peeling the kernels from the green peel, and this is easy to do: if it is already cracked, it can be easily removed by hand, and the whole shell can be removed with a knife.
Some recipes call for the use of whole fruits, others require chopping them, so you need to decide in advance which product you will use. To grind chestnut kernels, you can use a meat grinder, and the denser the consistency is needed, the more times you need to repeat the procedure. Fruits, just like inflorescences, need to be dried; the process itself will be similar.
Treatment of varicose veins can be carried out not only with the help of leaves, inflorescences and kernels of horse chestnut; in some cases, even the bark of this tree is used.
Despite the variety of all kinds of traditional medicine, when treating varicose veins, many people remember horse chestnut first. You can prepare a variety of preparations from it - tinctures, decoctions, gels, ointments, compresses or baths, and each remedy will not be inferior to the others in popularity. Thanks to such diversity, each patient will be able to choose the most convenient treatment method for himself.
The most popular form for the treatment of varicose veins is tincture. The easiest way to prepare such a remedy is to pour approximately 50 g of unpeeled whole fruits with alcohol or vodka. The resulting mixture should be poured into a glass jar, which should be wrapped in a thick dark cloth and put in a place protected from sunlight for 14 days. After this, the tincture is filtered through cheesecloth and put in the refrigerator. After consultation with a specialist, you need to take the drug 15-20 drops twice or thrice a day for 3 weeks or a month. If necessary, repeat the therapeutic course, you need to take a break of a week.
Another tincture is prepared from the brown peel of the fruit. Approximately 50 g of this ingredient must be finely chopped and poured with 0.5 liters of vodka or alcohol. The resulting mixture is poured into a glass jar and stored in a dark, dry place for 2 weeks. After this time, the tincture is filtered and put in the refrigerator. Treatment involves taking 30 drops of the product diluted in 30 ml of water three times a day.
The latest tincture recipe calls for the use of dried inflorescences. To do this, you will need to pour 100 g of raw material with a liter of vodka or alcohol, and then leave the mixture for two weeks in a dark, cool place. Then the product is filtered and consumed 25-30 drops three times a day before meals. In the initial stages of the disease, a month's course will be enough, but for more serious problems, you will need to drink the tincture for two months and take a break for 30 days.
For external use, you can prepare your own oil-based ointment. It can be vegetable or butter, as well as some essential oils or petroleum jelly. The resulting product should be stored in the refrigerator and used 3-4 times a day.
The most common ointment includes 5 chestnut fruits ground to a powder and 5 tablespoons of dried inflorescences. The resulting mixture should be poured with 1/2 liter of any vegetable oil and boiled in a water bath for two hours. Then you need to cool and strain the resulting ointment, after which it needs to be put in the refrigerator until it hardens.
An easier-to-prepare remedy is a kind of cream made from inflorescences. The required amount of raw material must be crushed and mixed with the same amount of any oil, then leave the mixture to infuse for several hours. Then you need to boil it in a water bath for 2-3 hours, strain and put it in the refrigerator until it hardens.
To combat varicose veins, you can prepare a combined ointment; its main components are sage (10 g), white acacia inflorescences (10 g), wormwood (20 g) and horse chestnut fruits crushed to a powder (30 g). The resulting mixture must be mixed with a tablespoon of starch and 200 g of any oil or animal fat. After this, the product is boiled in a water bath for 2-3 hours, removed from the heat and brought to a boil again after 12 hours. Then the finished ointment is filtered and cooled.
Ointments can be used for baths by stirring 40 g of the finished product in a bowl of hot water. It is necessary to steam your feet until the water becomes warm.
For varicose veins, it is recommended to use juice from freshly picked inflorescences. You need to take it 1/2 teaspoon 2-3 times a day after meals. In addition, the juice can sometimes be used to lubricate the most problematic areas on the legs.
The green peel left after peeling the horse chestnut fruit can also be used to treat varicose veins. To do this, add a full handful of whole peel to a liter of boiled water and boil over medium heat for 10-15 minutes. After this, the broth must be removed from the heat and allowed to brew for 24 hours. You need to take 1 tablespoon before going to bed.
Another decoction can be prepared by taking 5 g of horse chestnut fruits and leaves minced through a meat grinder, pouring a glass of water over the raw material and boiling in a water bath for half an hour. The cooled broth is filtered through cheesecloth, cooled and the volume is adjusted to 200 ml with boiled water. At first, you need to take the product once a day, 1 tablespoon, then you can increase the number of doses to 2-3 if there are no side effects.
Positive reviews can be seen about the results of using a compress based on horse chestnut. To do this, fresh inflorescences are crushed to a paste and applied in an even layer to the affected areas of the legs. Special paper for compresses is placed on top of the raw materials and left in this state overnight.
In addition to folk recipes, pharmaceutical preparations made from horse chestnut can be used to treat varicose veins. There are several most popular means:
Before using any pharmaceutical product, as is the case with traditional recipes, you need to consult a specialist. He will analyze the characteristics of the body in each specific case and help you choose the most appropriate treatment. Also, do not forget that any drug has contraindications that must be taken into account before purchasing.
Savin Evgeniy Valerievich – Phlebologist
Chernyakov Vadim Petrovich – Phlebologist
Shershen Oleg Olegovich – Vascular surgeon
Danilov Roman Ilyich – Phlebologist
Horse chestnut for varicose veins, medicinal properties and contraindications, photos, reviews from people and application. Help from the tincture for varicose veins, hemorrhoids, how to properly prepare it according to the recipe at home.
Today, varicose veins are the most common disease, which is diagnosed equally in the male and female half of the population. Modern medicine does not know of drugs that can completely cure varicose veins, which are in a progressive stage.
This category of patients can only be helped by surgical intervention. Hopelessly damaged veins are removed. For patients who have the initial stage of varicose veins, the domestic pharmacological industry offers a huge number of medicines. The composition includes medicinal herbs and plants.
Traditional medicine recipes are used in the fight against varicose veins. Despite the many medicinal herbs that can have a beneficial effect on blood vessels and veins, phlebologists strongly recommend that patients use preparations prepared from horse chestnut.
From Lat. Aesculus hippocastanum - translated as a large deciduous plant or tree. The most popular type.
During the flowering of chestnuts, patients with varicose veins can stock up on inflorescences to prevent the disease, from which decoctions, tinctures and ointments will subsequently be prepared. If the moment has been missed, dried chestnut flowers can be bought at pharmacies that sell medicinal herbs.
You can buy a ready-made ingredient in the markets; every herbalist is sure to have it in stock.
Horse chestnut is a plant that has unique medicinal properties and effectively fights in the treatment of varicose veins. The main advantage is accessibility. Patients suffering from the disease will not have to spend money on purchasing flowers and fruits of the plant.
Having collected a sufficient amount during the season, they will be able to prepare tinctures, extracts and ointments at home throughout the year.
The modern pharmacological industry has appreciated the healing properties of chestnut. On pharmacy shelves you can find a huge number of medicines and cosmetics that contain the fruits or inflorescences of the plant.
Horse chestnut received its unique properties, which are especially effective in the treatment of varicose veins, thanks to two components - esculin and aescin. When treating the disease, patients may notice the following effects:
This concentrate should be used with great caution, only in small portions after meals. The duration of treatment is determined individually, depending on the severity of the disease.
The extract can be used for external treatment of damaged areas of the lower extremities. Regular lubrication of areas where varicose veins are detected will improve blood supply and prevent the formation of blood clots. The extract in traditional medicine is called venostazin.
It is actively used not only in the treatment of varicose veins, but in the fight against concomitant diseases. Such as hemorrhoids, thrombophlebitis, atherosclerosis.
Horse chestnut tincture has worked well in the treatment of varicose veins. The folk remedy is approved by phlebologists and is actively prescribed to patients in complex therapy.
The tincture is used for the prevention of varicose veins and has virtually no side effects.
A person can prepare a composition from chestnut fruits at home. It is necessary to act in strict sequence:
Patients who have a non-progressive form of varicose veins can prepare and also use a tincture of chestnut inflorescences. It is necessary to place the flowers of the plant in a small container and pour in 50 grams of vodka.
The vessel should be placed in a dark and cool place to infuse for 30 days. The finished tincture should be taken before meals in the amount of 50 drops.
Compresses are prepared using this principle. For these purposes, it is necessary to take large quantities of plant fruits and leaves. Grind the ingredients thoroughly and place in a container, add vodka or diluted alcohol.
To use the tincture for compresses, there is no need to soak it for a long time. On the third day after preparation, you can use the hood for its intended purpose. You need to do this as follows. Soak soft gauze in the solution, squeeze it out a little, and apply it to the areas where the damaged veins are located.
When starting to use products made from chestnut, patients should understand that the best effect will be achieved when treating the initial stage of varicose veins. The tincture will be of great benefit to people who will use it to prevent varicose veins.
Not only tinctures, extracts and ointments are made. The fruits of the plant, namely its peel, are used to prepare a medicinal decoction. To make a decoction, take a small amount of peel and add 2 liters of water to it.
Place the container on the stove, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. At the next stage, you need to infuse the liquid, it is recommended to leave it overnight and strain. It is necessary to take the decoction for no more than 14 days, 1 tablespoon once a day. If necessary, the course of treatment can be extended.
Horse chestnut has unique healing properties. Inflorescences and fruits have been actively used in folk medicine for many years. Tinctures, ointments and decoctions have proven themselves in the treatment of various diseases, in particular varicose veins.
The composition includes a large number of microelements, thanks to which the plant acquires unique medicinal properties. Preparations containing either flowers or chestnut fruits are actively used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Capable of restoring the walls of capillaries, blood vessels and veins. They change the density of the blood, making it more fluid.
The composition contains the following microelements:
Thanks to the presence of escin and esculin, the plant acquires life-giving properties. Each of these microelements has an effect on the human body. Esculin is able to make strong walls of blood vessels, capillaries and veins. Esciu tones them, reduces permeability, thins the blood. The use of drugs will allow people to:
If patients are allergic to this plant, they should not start taking medications based on folk remedies. Chestnut is contraindicated for pregnant and lactating women. People who have problems with blood clotting.
For varicose veins of the legs
Each patient can prepare horse ointment at home, intended for the treatment of varicose veins. You need to purchase the necessary components:
The process of preparing the ointment is quite simple. Grind the chestnuts thoroughly, add the chopped inflorescences and mix everything. To give the dry mixture the consistency of an ointment, add vegetable oil.
At the final stage of preparation, it is necessary to cook the substance for 2 hours in a water bath, it should become thick. As soon as the mixture acquires beneficial properties, it is removed from the stove and filtered through cheesecloth. Transfer it to a small container in which it will be stored. The cooled ointment is placed in the refrigerator and used as needed.
The preparation of the ointment according to the second recipe is carried out in the same sequence, only without the use of crushed fruits.
Phlebologists recommend using the ointment to make baths for patients with varicose veins. It is necessary to act in a certain sequence:
During treatment, apply horse chestnut to problem areas of the skin of the lower extremities 2-3 times a day. If redness appears on the skin, discontinue use.
Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum ) is a tree from the Sapidinaceae family, with large compound leaves and a branched crown, reaching a height of up to 25 meters. Parts of the plant such as seeds, flowers, bark, fruits and leaves are used for medicinal purposes. Horse chestnut, the medicinal properties and contraindications of which have been known to people in eastern countries for many years, gained recognition among our compatriots relatively recently.
Aesculus hippocastanum is widespread in Southern Europe, East Asia and India. A temperate climate with loose and fertile soil is favorable for the plant. It first appeared in Russia in the 15th century and is currently widespread in the form of forest plantations in the Moscow and Leningrad regions. The tree tolerates urban conditions well, but may suffer from chestnut moth. The plant is a honey plant, and begins to bear fruit after 15-20 years.
The main active ingredients that provide the full range of clinical effects of chestnut are saponosides. Saponosides have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and vasoconstrictor properties. They are able to reduce blood viscosity and clotting, as well as relieve swelling from the lower extremities.
Horse chestnut esculin reduces capillary permeability, increases the antithrombotic activity of blood serum, and increases the rate of antithrombin synthesis. Horse chestnut is the most effective in the treatment of varicose veins.
Aesculus hippocastanum is an excellent tonic. The Turks fed it to tired horses after long marches, which helped them quickly restore strength. That is why the chestnut was nicknamed horse chestnut.
Today chestnut is used for:
Horse chestnut is contraindicated during pregnancy and lactation. It is not recommended to use chestnut for constipation, gastritis with low acidity, menstrual irregularities, and low blood pressure. With long-term use, constant monitoring of blood prothrombin is necessary to prevent bleeding.
Horse chestnut has a beneficial effect on the venous wall. The plant is able to normalize venous tone and improve blood microcirculation in the venous bed. For veins, this is an indispensable means of treating and preventing varicose veins.
To treat varicose veins, you can use both homemade infusions and horse chestnut-based preparations purchased at the pharmacy.
When choosing a medicine for oral administration, it is necessary to take into account concomitant diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, so for gastritis and peptic ulcers, preference should be given to herbal decoctions and infusions rather than alcohol tinctures.
Local treatment of veins with chestnut preparations can be carried out without restrictions. The drug has good bioavailability and penetrates through the skin into the area of the affected veins.
Due to its effectiveness and low toxicity, horse chestnut is widely used in traditional and herbal medicine for the treatment of varicose veins. As a result of the influence of esculin and excine, which are part of it, blood clotting is noticeably reduced and the permeability of the capillary wall is reduced. Due to reduced clotting, blood moves more easily through the veins, which protects them from overstretching and volume damage.
Increasing the strength of the vascular wall, reduces swelling of the legs and prevents the formation of blood clots in varicose veins, which protects a person from possible embolism. With the help of regular use of tinctures and decoctions based on horse chestnut, you can stop the progression of the disease and remove the fine venous network on the legs.
Regarding varicose veins, the medicinal properties of horse chestnut, with proper and regular use and the absence of contraindications, lead to the following clinical effects:
Tincture: 50 grams of crushed chestnut fruits, pour 0.5 liters of vodka. Let it brew for two weeks in a dark place. Take 30-40 drops of tincture three times a day.
Foot baths: pour 50 grams of chopped chestnut into a liter of boiling water. Boil for half an hour and let it brew, then strain. Use the resulting decoction as foot baths in the evening.
Decoction: pour 10 grams of chopped chestnut with a glass of boiling water, boil for 5 minutes and let it brew for a couple of hours, then take one tablespoon 3 times a day. Treatment with decoction is carried out for 2 months.
Horse chestnut tincture with vodka is the most effective means of combating varicose veins than decoctions and infusions. The most effective tinctures are those made from the brown skin of the fruit or from whole fruits.
The tincture should be taken 3 times daily, 30 minutes before meals. After one week, you need to switch to a four-time dose. The duration of treatment is 1-2 months.
Topical use of the tincture also gives a good effect. To do this, you need to carefully rub the tincture into the area of dilated veins 2-3 times a day, or apply compresses from the tincture diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio to the veins.
In the pharmaceutical industry you can find a huge number of ready-made medicines based on horse chestnut. These can be alcohol tinctures, extracts, seed extracts (escin).
The most common drug is called Aescusan, which contains the fruit extract of Aesculus hippocastanum (escin) and vitamin B1. The drug has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, decongestant and venotonic effects. Aescusan improves the contractility of the smooth muscles of the vascular wall, thereby reducing capillary fragility and improving tissue metabolism.
Read about other plants that have a positive effect on blood vessels in this article.
There are many folk remedies for treating varicose veins. One of them is horse chestnut. The fruits of the tree known to us all, it turns out, have medicinal properties and are quite widely used in medicine.
The fact is that it is from them that some drugs are made, including ointments (read the article ointment for varicose veins: which is better?) and tablets for the treatment of varicose veins, which are sold in pharmacies. But is it possible to compare the effectiveness of drugs and those folk recipes used to prepare tinctures and decoctions used to treat varicose veins?
Answering this question is not as simple as it might seem, which is why you should not make hasty conclusions and you should find out what experts say about such treatment.
We should start with the fact that horse chestnut actually contains substances that can affect the tone and permeability of blood vessels , so its use as a folk remedy for the treatment of varicose veins is not at all surprising.
But how to use chestnut - topically or internally? There are ways to use it in both ways. In the first case, you should make a decoction or alcohol tincture, which is applied to the surface of the skin at the site where spider veins or nodes appear as a lotion or rub.
If you take a decoction or tincture orally, the medicinal substances can penetrate into the blood and have a systemic effect. But neither in the first nor in the second case will it be possible to achieve the same result as when using tablets or ointments. Why?
We all know that the effectiveness of any drug depends on its dosage. Horse chestnut does contain chemicals that can increase the tone of the veins, but their concentration in a homemade aqueous or alcohol solution will not be sufficient to achieve the desired effect.
You may experience some improvement when using horse chestnut remedies that you prepare yourself, but most likely only at the onset of the disease, when even minimal doses of substances will help improve the situation.
Another question that interests many people suffering from varicose veins is the possibility of using the drug for one or another concomitant pathology. It is believed that horse chestnut tinctures and ointments have virtually no side effects.
Of course, you can read that taking it can lead to a decrease in blood pressure, and therefore those who suffer from hypotension should avoid taking the drug. But then a reasonable question arises: how can a drug that increases the tone of venous vessels reduce the tone of arteries and arterioles? Any substance can affect blood vessels non-selectively, or affect only arteries or veins, but the opposite effect does not fit into the modern concepts of official medicine.
As for the effect in the form of a decrease in blood clotting, which is positioned as positive, since it helps prevent the development of thrombosis and thrombophlebitis, in fact it is not as pronounced as we would like. Therefore, there is no need to worry about taking horse chestnut in terms of the possible development of bleeding, although it should not be used if the coagulation system is seriously impaired. However, as with any other product, it is better to consult a doctor before starting use. But generally speaking, you are unlikely to find a safer remedy than horse chestnut.
Whether to use horse chestnut for varicose veins or not is something everyone decides for themselves. In general, it can be recommended for use in the initial stages of varicose veins as a therapeutic and prophylactic agent. However, if the disease, despite treatment, continues to progress, then it is better to choose more effective drugs. Possibly based on horse chestnuts, but medicines purchased from a pharmacy chain. In such preparations the dose of active ingredients will be larger, so they can provide a better effect.
If you have a pronounced stage of varicose veins, then horse chestnut products can be used, but not in isolation, but as part of complex therapy. They can be combined with tight bandaging of the limbs, taking venotonics and drugs that reduce blood clotting. In this case, the folk remedy will only be an addition that will help improve the effect and reduce the dose of other drugs that have a number of side effects.
Horse chestnut for varicose veins is a long-known folk remedy, which is also used in traditional medicine to prepare ointments and tinctures. The product really effectively helps with varicose veins, and with regular use you can forget about the recurrence of varicose veins forever. Varicose veins are a disease in which the veins cease to be elastic, become nodular, and protrude above the surface of the skin in the form of a bluish-purple network and large nodes.
It can be treated with a variety of medications and surgery.
However, what to do if all these stages have already been completed, and you are afraid of an exacerbation? Or did varicose veins only manifest themselves in the form of an ugly network of veins? With a disease such as varicose veins, it is necessary to constantly use preventive agents, one of which is horse chestnut products.
Horse chestnut for varicose veins is actively used in folk and traditional medicine, due to the properties it has on damaged blood vessels:
• Constant use of horse chestnut improves the elasticity of the venous walls;
• Relieves swelling and itching;
• Suppresses the formation of blood clots;
• Heals wounds and relieves inflammation.
Horse chestnut contains active components that really greatly improve the condition of damaged veins. Therefore, the pharmaceutical industry produces several officially registered drugs based on it. They all have similar effects. In addition, the pharmacy sells chestnut tincture for varicose veins in alcohol, ointments and gels for external use.
The pharmacy has a large selection of drugs made from natural raw materials or extracts from horse chestnut. These are tablets, ointments, gels, alcohol tinctures, and
also herbal teas, teas.
• Cream “Tsar's Tread”;
• Monastic ointment “For varicose veins”;
Tinctures and drops:
All these drugs have an angioprotective effect, improve elasticity and permeability of veins, thin the blood, prevent thrombosis, relieve swelling, itching, and inflammation.
Horse chestnut for varicose veins - traditionally used in recipes and compositions that you can prepare yourself. All its parts are used in tinctures, infusions and decoctions. This is a common plant; preparing raw materials for formulations is not a problem. Here are several recipes for the treatment and prevention of varicose veins.
1. Chestnut tincture for varicose veins - chestnuts along with the peel are crushed and poured with vodka (at the rate of 50 grams of chestnuts per 0.5 liter of vodka), infuse for about a week. Strain. Take half a teaspoon orally 3-4 times a day;
2. Alcohol tincture for compresses - chop horse chestnut fruits with peel and pour in vodka (at the rate of 50 grams of raw material per 250 ml of vodka). This tincture is used for compresses on affected areas;
3. Tincture of horse chestnut flowers - to prepare the tincture you will need 50 grams of dried chestnut flowers, pour them with vodka and leave for up to 20 days. For 50 grams of dried chestnut flowers, take 500 ml of vodka. Dosage: 25-35 drops 3 times a day for 20 minutes of eating;
1. A decoction based on chestnut peel - pour 20 grams of chopped green peel with 1.9 liters of boiling water, let stand on fire for 5-7 minutes, leave for about 6 hours. Take 35 drops 3 times a day 20 minutes before meals;
2. Squeeze from fresh chestnut flowers - can be used instead of infusions and tinctures, take 25 drops twice a day before meals;
1. Ointment recipe – dried chestnut flowers – 5 tablespoons, or finely chopped chestnuts – 5 pieces, heated in sunflower oil over very low heat or a water bath for an hour. Oil is taken in a ratio of 1:10. Cool and filter. Store in the refrigerator;
2. Ointment based on a collection of herbs - mix leaves, sage flowers, acacia flowers (10 g each), 30 g of chestnuts crushed into flour, 20 g of bitter wormwood, 200 g of chicken or goose fat, heat for 3 hours in a water bath or very low fire, let stand overnight, heat to a boil again, strain, pour into jars;
An infusion can be prepared from a collection of herbs: 10 grams of horsetail, 5 grams each of chestnut flowers, rue, and willow bark. Mix everything, pour 3 tablespoons of the mixture into 1 liter of boiling water, infuse in a thermos, and drink throughout the day.
The medicinal properties of home-prepared drugs are in no way inferior to pharmaceutical drugs. The raw materials for preparation are always fresh, the product can be prepared at any time.
Bolotov’s method of treating varicose veins is actively discussed on various Internet forums. His followers claim that by following his technique, it is possible to completely recover from varicose veins. The founder of the technique proposed several steps to cure varicose veins:
1. The first necessary stage is oxidation of the body;
2. The need to maintain thermal conditions for sore legs;
3. Cure the gastrointestinal tract by using Bolotov balm;
4. External rubbing with vinegar tinctures using herbal teas;
5. Regular poultices of seaweed, mixtures of various salts along with herbal ingredients on the affected areas.
This is an extensive technique; no one can come to a consensus on its effectiveness. There are supporters and opponents.
It is important to remember: when using any treatment, monitor the process; if you observe worsening, consult a doctor immediately.
In botany, there are more than 10 types of chestnuts. The most common of them are real chestnut (edible) and horse chestnut. What is a plant like horse chestnut and where does it grow - in Russia or abroad? According to the botanical description, horse chestnut (common or wild) is a deciduous tree of the horse-chestnut family (hippocastanaceae), reaching 25-35 meters in height. It has a thick, spreading crown and bark that cracks along the trunk. The palmately compound leaf blade is located on a long petiole; the horse chestnut buds are almost brown in color, large and sticky. The flowers are united in erect large inflorescences of a whitish or barely visible pinkish tint. They are bell-shaped in shape, with fringe along the edges of the petal. The flowers emit a strong and pleasant aroma. The fruits are a green, round-shaped box with thorns. Ripening in early and mid-autumn, the capsule opens three doors and a seed appears - most often one, but there can be 2 or even 3. The seeds are large in size, with a shiny brown skin, and have a round grayish spot on their surface. You can see what horse chestnut looks like in the photo below. The average lifespan of this mighty tree is about three centuries. The areas of its distribution are the European parts of the Russian Federation and the CIS, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
What is the difference between a real (edible) chestnut and a horse chestnut? Despite their external similarity, these two types of chestnut are actually so different from each other that they are even classified as different families. The first is used for cooking, mainly in the growing area - in the southern and some northern countries of Europe. And the second is valued for its healing properties. It is worth noting that horse chestnut nuts are not used for food. Medicine, both traditional and folk, highly values horse chestnut. The bark, leaves, fruits and flowers are subject to collection. And what they help with, what diseases are treated by venotonics with horse chestnut, and what vitamins it contains for blood vessels against varicose veins, we will tell you in our article.
What is treated with horse chestnut, and what properties does it have? It has found application in medicine and cosmetology. The beneficial properties of this mighty tree are very extensive, and the indications for use are quite an impressive list. There are also contraindications, but first things first. If we consider horse chestnut as a medicine, we should understand in more detail all aspects of the issue and study its chemical composition.
Horse chestnut seeds and tree bark contain saponins (triterpene glycoside) with a complex structure (escin, artrescine, fraxin, esculin, coumarin), as well as a large amount of flavonoid glycosides (quercetin triosides, quercitrin, isoquercitrin, kaempferol). In addition, groups of vitamins B, C, E, K, starch and fatty oil.
Horse chestnut flowers are also used, because their rich composition gives them certain physical and chemical properties. Flowers contain: kaempferoglycoside, flavonoids (rutin, quercetin, astragalin), triterpene saponin. Moreover, they are rich in sugars, tannins and choline.
In addition to the above active components, this plant has a rich complex of macro- and microelements, as well as minerals. You can voice such elements as iron, calcium, nickel, boron, chromium, zinc, barium, iodine, selenium and silver. Therefore, due to their unique composition, preparations containing horse chestnut are widely used in the treatment of various painful conditions.
In order for the positive effect of the inflorescences, seeds, bark and leaves of the tree to be maximum, it is important to prepare them correctly. The collection of inflorescences and foliage for medicinal purposes begins in late spring and ends in early autumn. Tree bark is collected in the spring after trees are pruned. They remove it from branches whose age does not exceed 3-5 years. Seeds (fruits) are harvested as they ripen and immediately fall. Drying occurs either in special dryers or in designated rooms with moderate ventilation and without direct access to sunlight, which is detrimental to beneficial properties.
As mentioned earlier, this plant has a solid list of medicinal properties. For example, an extract from horse chestnut seeds has decongestant, venotonic, antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, it is used for inflammatory processes in blood vessels, varicose veins and trophic ulcers. Medicines and preparations based on horse chestnut help both against varicose veins and are used in complex therapy in the treatment of hemorrhages, hypertension and other diseases due to their diuretic, hemostatic and wound-healing properties.
The healing properties of the plant are like one side of the coin, the other is contraindications. Unfortunately, they exist and it is important to know about them. After all, before using horse chestnut, it is important to familiarize yourself with this information. First of all, it is worth noting that contraindications directly depend on the dosage form and the composition of the product used as a whole. Medicines from horse chestnut and drugs taken orally, both for veins and for other purposes, are contraindicated for use by people:
Of course, you can only get complete information about the possibility of taking a particular drug from your attending physician.
The healing properties that horse chestnut has give it a fairly wide range of application. It is valued by the beauty industry and is used in cosmetics for the face and body, in hair masks, and also helps get rid of cellulite. In pharmacy kiosks you can find various creams, ointments and gels for feet based (with extract) of horse chestnut. A medicinal product based on horse chestnut will help in the treatment of thrombophlebitis, radiculitis, prostatitis, neuralgia, leukemia, bronchitis, radiation sickness, tuberculosis and many other diseases. In general, the benefits of using horse chestnut are quite great:
In pharmacies you can buy powder from horse chestnut seeds - a dry extract (an extract of medicinal raw materials from the plant). It has a specific smell and bitter taste. The basis of the powder is escin - the most valuable component of the plant, which has an anti-inflammatory and anti-edematous effect, which is especially important in the treatment of varicose veins. There is also aqueous, hydroalcoholic and glycerin extract.
Indications for treatment with horse chestnut in a liquid solution are varicose veins, chronic venous insufficiency and their complex therapy, combating fungal diseases, protecting the skin from harmful ultraviolet rays, etc. The benefits of horse chestnut in the form of liquid extract are basically the same as as from the use of other means. The choice of release form is determined by the goals; in this regard, horse chestnut fruit extract is convenient for baths. Using warm baths with the addition of liquid horse chestnut concentrate will have a beneficial effect on the entire body. Fatigue in the legs will go away, swelling will go away due to the removal of fluid from the subcutaneous tissue, microcirculation will improve, the walls of blood vessels will strengthen, and damaged areas of the skin will begin to recover. The duration of such a bath is no more than 10-15 minutes.
Horse chestnut seed extract is often used for vascularity by bodybuilders. Such a characteristic as venousness in bodybuilding is quite important and serves as one of the criteria for judging at competitions. Athletes purposefully develop arteries, capillaries and venous vessels. But an unpleasant consequence of this phenomenon can be varicose veins, so achieving this criterion is associated with great risk.
Horse chestnut has a positive effect on veins and fights against the manifestations of varicose veins, this is a proven fact. Depending on the method of treatment, the fruits are used in a variety of forms - dry, fried, powdered, in infusions, etc. They stimulate the production of antithrombin, strengthen the walls of capillaries and reduce their permeability, and improve blood flow to the venous vessels.
This pharmacological form is made from an extract of inflorescences and fruits of the plant in combination with grape seed oil. Why and how to use horse chestnut in oil concentrate? With its help, you can get rid of rosacea, excess subcutaneous fat layer, or make a compress for swelling - to do this, you need to soak a gauze cloth or bandage folded in several rows with oil and apply it to the affected area of the body. The oil is used both in pure form and in combination with essential oils and creams. It is used for rubbing, wrapping and self-massage. Horse chestnut also promotes relaxation of tired legs and general relaxation when taking a bath; for this you need to add 30 ml of concentrate to the water.
In order to achieve maximum healing and cosmetic effects, it is important to carry out the procedures in courses. Only after a certain period of constant implementation of the procedures will it be possible to note an improvement in the condition of the skin, an improvement in the outflow of lymph and, as a result, the resorption of edema and a reduction in the vascular pattern.
Horse chestnut exhibits its medicinal properties very successfully in the treatment of varicose veins. All highly effective creams contain horse chestnut. For veins, its effect is expressed in strengthening the vascular walls, improving the functioning of the valve apparatus, preventing the formation of blood clots, and even in the treatment of complications of varicose veins such as the healing of trophic ulcers. There are currently a large number of different variations of creamy venotonic preparations based on horse chestnut on the pharmacological market. So there is a cream, cream-gel, cream-balm that may contain mint, shark oil, leech extract or other components, but they all certainly contain horse chestnut and are based on it. "NORMAVEN®" foot cream in its unique composition has 12 active natural ingredients, one of which is horse chestnut extract. Many women wonder about the benefits and harms of using horse chestnut cream to prevent varicose veins during pregnancy. So, clinical studies of NORMAVEN® foot cream have confirmed its effectiveness and safety of use during pregnancy. After just one month of use, there is an improvement in the condition - the pain syndrome, the feeling of fatigue and heaviness in the legs disappear. The maximum effect is achieved after 3 months of use, when applied to the skin 2 times a day with massaging movements. It should also be remembered that varicose veins and its prevention require an integrated approach. Therefore, it is important to monitor nutrition, physical activity and follow the recommendations of specialists.
Local remedies for varicose veins come in various pharmacological forms and differ from each other in consistency. The gel preparation has a light consistency, while the ointment preparation is, on the contrary, dense, thick and oily. Foot ointment containing horse chestnut has both medicinal properties and contraindications. The latter include the inability to use the product for allergic reactions, renal failure, gastrointestinal diseases, etc.
The gel preparation is based on water, making it easier to distribute over the skin than ointment. Therefore, massage gel-balm for feet is more convenient to use than ointment. As a rule, most products based on horse chestnut have positive reviews.
In folk medicine, the treatment of varicose veins with horse chestnut has been used since ancient times; recipes were compiled by healers and healers many centuries ago. A decoction of the leaves and a tincture of horse chestnut peel have rich medicinal properties. There are hundreds of recipes for their preparation and they serve not only for treating veins.
Horse chestnut decoction and tincture help get rid of the stars on the legs due to varicose veins and give good results in the fight against diseases such as lymphostasis. Folk treatment of joints (knees in particular) with horse chestnut tincture is also practiced. How to prepare and take horse chestnut tincture will depend on the disease. For varicose veins, alcohol and water infusion of fruits, inflorescences and leaves of the plant is possible. Horse chestnut is extremely popular, and folk treatment is not limited to preparing a tincture. Teas, ointments, baths, lotions, etc. are prepared for varicose veins and to thin the blood. It is better to ask your doctor for reviews of certain traditional medicine recipes before use. It is better to exclude self-medication.
In cases where treatment from the inside is required, the use of drugs and medications is necessary. They are prescribed by a doctor after reviewing the medical history. As a rule, a specialist recommends taking medications for varicose veins in parallel with the use of drugs that reduce blood viscosity and the use of medical compression stockings. Horse chestnut extract tablets have a number of contraindications. At a minimum, it can cause allergic reactions, with such unpleasant symptoms as hives, itching and rashes on the skin. Therefore, self-medication should be excluded. Only a specialist will be able to correctly select the drug and its dosage regimen.