Varicose veins are a disease that primarily affects the vessels of the legs and is manifested by rapid fatigue, swelling and pain. Violation of venous circulation in the pelvis leads to the development of varicose veins of the genital organs. Varicose veins of the labia are a painful pathology that interferes with having a full sex life, playing active sports, and brings a lot of unpleasant symptoms.
Typically, varicose veins of the labia develop in women in the last trimester of pregnancy. Its harbinger is often varicose veins of the legs. The cause of the pathology in this case is increased pressure on the uterus and pelvic floor . The veins located in the external genitalia become enlarged and pathologically change. The disease lasts until childbirth and causes discomfort and fear in expectant mothers.
In most cases, the symptoms of varicose veins disappear on their own immediately after the birth of the child. But it happens that without timely treatment, varicose veins become a problem during pregnancy and childbirth. Only a doctor can help stop further progression of the disease by prescribing the correct treatment. Thanks to this, pregnant women do not refuse natural childbirth. Pathologically altered and dilated veins can be restored.
Pregnancy is the main cause of varicose veins of the labia. During this important period for every woman, the body experiences serious stress. Significant weight gain, hormonal imbalance, physical inactivity, physical overexertion, venous dysfunction, vascular hypotension are factors that contribute to impaired venous circulation in the body of expectant mothers. An enlarged uterus puts pressure on the pelvic veins, which leads to impaired blood outflow, increased blood volume and increased load on the body's vessels. Veins are not as dense and elastic as arteries. That is why they are affected in the first place. In women, the perineum swells, the veins of the labia “pop out” and become denser.
The reasons for the development of the disease in a woman who has not given birth are the following:
In women suffering from varicose veins of the labia, the external genitalia swell, the veins swell and often form entire conglomerates of nodes. Strains and spider veins appear on the mucous membrane and skin. Irritated and dry skin of the perineum itches, goes numb or hurts, there is a feeling of burning, bloating and discomfort, and dysuric disorders appear. These unpleasant and painful sensations intensify during sexual intercourse, after physical activity and visiting the toilet. Aching pain usually radiates to the sacrum and perineum. The woman’s psychological state worsens, her mood decreases, and increased irritability appears.
Specialists visually detect deformation of the veins, which are an aesthetically unpleasant sight. First, a small nodule appears on the labia, which does not manifest itself clinically. Gradually, there are many nodules, they increase in size and interfere with normal sitting, walking, and sexual activity. Venous nodules, cords and lumps grow and can be felt during palpation. The affected dry skin of the perineum becomes pigmented. In the last stages of pregnancy, the pain becomes excruciating, and obvious signs of varicose veins are most noticeable. In severe cases, patients walk and sit with great difficulty.
If clinical signs of the disease appear, you should immediately consult a doctor to conduct additional studies and prescribe appropriate treatment.
Complications of varicose veins of the labia are: bleeding and rupture of the perineum during childbirth, as well as varicothrombophlebitis, blood thickening, pelvic vein thrombosis.
You can detect varicose veins in the perineum yourself by feeling the external genitalia. Diagnosis and treatment of varicose veins of the labia are carried out by gynecologists, phlebologists and vascular surgeons. The doctor examines the woman, listens to complaints and collects anamnesis. Additional diagnostic methods include: clinical blood test, coagulogram, ultrasound. Ultrasound examination allows you to see the condition of the venous wall and confirm the diagnosis of the disease.
Treatment of pregnant women is a difficult and very responsible process. Pregnant women can completely get rid of varicose veins only after childbirth. Effective and correct therapy will help reduce the severity of the clinical symptoms of the disease and stop the further development of the pathological process. Suitable and safe medications prescribed by a doctor will significantly improve the condition of the veins, making them less noticeable and painful.
For pregnant women suffering from varicose veins of the labia, experts give the following recommendations:
Conservative treatment consists of wearing compression garments, using anesthetic creams and using medications. It is aimed at stopping the reverse flow of blood and relieving pain symptoms.
Sclerotherapy is the most effective and generally painless method of treating genital varicose veins, carried out on an outpatient basis and bringing high-quality results. Labiaplasty and microthermocoagulation are also possible. But these methods are strictly contraindicated for pregnant women.
If varicose veins of the labia do not go away after the baby is born, but continues to progress, proceed to surgical intervention. The main types of operations for varicose veins are classic phlebectomy, radiofrequency and laser coagulation of deformed veins.
Measures to prevent the development of varicose veins of the labia:
Varicose veins of the labia are currently a completely curable disease. With the help of modern medicine, you can quickly and painlessly eliminate the symptoms of the disease and possible cosmetic defects. To achieve this, it is necessary to identify the disease in time. Otherwise, varicose veins of the labia can cause a lot of trouble, especially for pregnant women. It is enough to follow all the recommendations and instructions of a specialist. Self-diagnosis and self-medication always ends in failure!
Varicose veins mainly affect the lower extremities. However, in medical practice there are cases when pathological expansion of the veins is observed in the pelvic area: the rectum and genitals. The latter option occurs most often in women and is called varicose veins of the labia.
The danger of this disease is often underestimated. Experts note that a complication of varicose veins on a woman’s genitals can be varicothrombophlebitis (formation of a blood clot in a modified vessel), inflammation of the veins and rupture of blood vessels during sexual intercourse or during childbirth with subsequent bleeding.
The symptomatic picture of the disease is practically no different from the expansion of veins in the legs. You can detect varicose veins on your labia without special diagnostic measures.
Like other forms of the disease, this variety causes women significant discomfort, namely:
As a rule, varicose veins of the labia manifest themselves especially clearly when wearing tight, airtight clothing. Symptoms may intensify during the menstrual period and during pregnancy.
The appearance of this pathology is often associated with pregnancy, however, other phenomena and conditions can cause varicose veins:
No less than these factors influence the occurrence of excessive physical activity.
During pregnancy, the causes and symptomatic manifestations of varicose veins in the groin area may differ slightly from those described above.
Firstly, a pregnant woman’s body experiences increased stress on the circulatory system of the pelvic organs. Under pressure from the growing fetus and uterus, blood circulates differently than in women without pregnancy.
Secondly, weakness of the venous walls can be caused by changes in a woman’s hormonal levels.
Based on this, phlebologists and gynecologists often do not resort to radical methods of solving the problem of dilated veins in women (surgeries), but prefer to limit themselves to prescribing venotonics that are safe for the fetus.
However, varicose veins of the labia during pregnancy can be dangerous due to the risk of bleeding . That is why a woman with a similar diagnosis should visit the doctor’s office more often.
Often, due to the risk of complications and too rapid progression of varicose veins after the 35th week of pregnancy, a woman is sent for a cesarean section, since independent childbirth is strictly contraindicated for her.
Often, varicose veins on the labia after childbirth go away on their own. In this case, the woman is advised to take preventive measures to prevent the recurrence of the disease.
Since varicose veins of the labia are directly related to impaired venous circulation, a classic set of methods is used in its treatment:
Each of the methods is effective at any stage of the disease, however, experts note that medications in combination with folk remedies will be useful in the initial stages of varicose veins. Surgical intervention is used in the case of multiple lesions of the veins not only in the genitals, but also in other pelvic organs.
The first thing the doctor prescribes to the patient is external agents with a venotonic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect. With their help, you can quickly feel relief.
However, for the full effect of such drugs, it is necessary to use oral medications (tablets) with the same composition.
The most effective means are:
The course of treatment with the listed drugs should be long, especially if they are tablets or capsules. Ointments and gels quickly relieve swelling, inflammation and pain, however, due to the lack of a systemic effect on the body, they cannot be used as the only means of therapy.
Note! Drug treatment of varicose veins of the labia, even with an over-the-counter drug, must begin after visiting a phlebologist. He will select the medications that are suitable for a particular patient, taking into account a variety of factors, including the presence of concomitant diseases and/or pregnancy.
Folk remedies in the form of lotions and self-made ointments will also be useful for illness. The recipe for such home remedies includes herbs with anti-inflammatory and venotonic effects: St. John's wort, chamomile, coltsfoot, meadowsweet.
As a base for ointments, you can take vegetable oil or soft animal fat with the addition of wax.
Surgical treatment is an effective way to completely eliminate dilated veins.
Operations are divided into two types:
Currently, minimally invasive operations are used more often, since they do not require putting the patient into medicated sleep, and also have virtually no risk of complications. In addition, such procedures for removing varicose veins on the labia do not require long-term rehabilitation of the patient.
The essence of minimally invasive operations comes down to gluing veins using electrical discharges (electrocoagulation), laser (laser coagulation), or filling the lumen of the vessel with a special foam composition.
Surgical and minimally invasive operations for varicose veins of the labia are indicated in the following situations:
However, even if there are direct indications for surgical removal of pathologically dilated veins, there are contraindications, which include:
In the postoperative period, patients should continue to follow the doctor’s recommendations: wear compression garments with special inserts, refrain from staying in a static position for a long time, and also give up bad habits.