A feeling of heaviness at the end of the day and calves that look like posts are symptoms of poor venous return, causing the sensation of heavy legs. These symptoms are especially common during hot spells in summer, prolonged periods of standing, or significant inactivity, such as during lockdown. Unfortunately, this is an acquired deficiency that should be treated regularly (at least 4 times a year) and for life, to better manage the pain and prevent varicose veins from appearing. How can you naturally relieve heavy legs? Here are a few simple tips for getting lighter legs.
Heavy and painful legs: what natural remedies are available?
The best treatment for relieving heavy legs is to change your lifestyle:
- Focus on foods that promote good blood circulation, namely those rich in vitamin C. Fruits include blackcurrants, kiwis, oranges, lemons, papayas, guavas, strawberries, and raspberries; vegetables include parsley, bell peppers, sorrel, broccoli, and cabbage. Eat them soon after buying them and heat them as little as possible, because vitamin C oxidizes when exposed to heat and light.
- Use lemon and fresh parsley as often as possible on fish, in sauces and salads, on vegetables, and in fruit salads, because they are rich in bioflavonoids, which have circulatory benefits.
- Avoid spices that sting and heat you up, as they increase vein dilation, such as chili, curry, paprika, pepper, and wasabi. Ginger falls somewhere in between; it depends on individual tolerance. I’ll let you make your own choice.
- Choose lean proteins: oily and white fish, oysters, skinless white meat, and lean red meat: ground beef < 15% fat, roast beef, beef steaks, duck aiguillettes, and pork tenderloin.
- Season your dishes with herbs and spices such as rosemary, herbes de Provence, ginger, turmeric, and cloves in cooking water, instead of salt and stock cubes.
- To avoid edema associated with poor blood circulation, limit salt, which promotes water retention. It is found in deli meats, bread, cheese, ham, prepared dishes from caterers, and processed foods.
- Dress your dishes with olive, flaxseed, walnut, or camelina oils; eat walnuts and lamb’s lettuce for their anti-inflammatory omega-3 content.
- Drink enough low-mineral water during the day, suitable for babies’ bottles, such as Cristalline or Mont Roucous. To drink effectively, it is recommended that you drink throughout the day, in small sips, between meals, so that the water does not bind with salt, and before 7 p.m. Nevertheless, you should always listen to your body and therefore to your thirst. If it is very hot or you have exercised, of course you need to hydrate. If not, it is either because you have not drunk enough during the day or because you have eaten too much salt. Yes, salt draws in water and stores it. As you will have understood, avoid the salt shaker in favor of herbs and seasonings.
Every day, keep moving, walk, and do physical activity with exercises that activate your leg muscles to stimulate circulation. Walking every day is the best way to avoid these sensations and maintain good venous return, always with a 2 cm heel, which is better for the arch of the foot and the functioning of the venous valves.
At the end of your shower, run a jet of cold water from your ankles upward toward your thighs. You can also massage yourself vigorously with a loofah glove to soothe pain and relieve your legs.
At the end of the day, take a red vine and rosemary foot bath: place 60 grams of each in a muslin bag with 25 cl of boiling water, leave to infuse for 15 minutes in a basin, then fill the basin with cold water and soak your feet for 15 minutes.
At night, remember to sleep with your legs elevated. You can also ask your doctor to prescribe compression stockings and wear them as much as possible. They are not always very glamorous, but our grandmothers were right: they are highly effective. And under clothing, they go unnoticed.
If possible, also avoid underfloor heating at home, as it weakens blood circulation in the legs.
Which essential oils can be used for heavy legs?
Lemon essential oil, which stimulates circulation, can be useful for heavy legs. It can be used undiluted at a rate of 2 drops under the tongue each morning, EXCEPT when taking anticoagulant medication.
It is also effective as a massage oil: in a 50 ml bottle fitted with a dropper, mix 1 ml, or 30 drops, of camphor rosemary essential oil; 2 ml, or 60 drops, of lemon essential oil; 1 ml, or 30 drops, of evergreen cypress essential oil; 1 ml, or 30 drops, of peppermint; and 20 ml of calophyllum vegetable oil, then top up with macadamia vegetable oil. Apply 10 drops of the mixture to the painful area. WARNING: in the event of a history of maltose, breast cancer, or “hormone-dependent” fibroids, replace evergreen cypress with juniper.
A second essential oil of interest for heavy legs is mastic tree essential oil. This powerful microcirculation stimulant acts on capillaries that burst and leave fine red or purplish streaks on the legs. This essential oil is used in massage. Mix 5 ml of mastic tree essential oil with 10 ml of apricot kernel vegetable oil in a tinted 15 ml dropper bottle. Apply a few drops to the painful area once a day until it disappears.
Heavy legs and varicose veins: what are the solutions?
If the sensation of heavy legs affects only one leg, it may be caused by a varicose vein.
Where do varicose veins come from?
Varicose veins are winding dilations of the superficial veins of the lower limbs: the saphenous vein and its branches. Under the effect of gravity and the widening of the veins, blood, which normally circulates from the bottom upward, tends to stagnate or even flow back into these veins because the valves, which regulate blood flow, no longer function normally.
More specifically, when someone develops varicose veins or spider veins, it is because their blood has become chronically dehydrated and chronically thick over the years.
When blood becomes thick, our blood vessels tend to narrow slightly.
The heart must then work harder to remove the “muddy,” toxic, and dehydrated blood from the lower limbs, and this increased suction pulls the vein walls inward, making blood flow slower.
Varicose veins can be caused by prolonged standing inherent to certain occupations, being overweight, a sedentary lifestyle, genetics associated with poor venous return, or an unhealthy diet. As they worsen with age, it is better to act before they appear or get worse and a doctor recommends surgery to sclerose them, a solution that is not always convincing in the long term.
In psychosomatic terms, varicose veins are caused by repressed or held-back emotions that prevent blood from circulating freely through the veins. It can be helpful to go back to the period just before the first varicose veins appeared and remember whether, at that time, an event or situation generated grief or pain. Could this be the result of deeply buried, ignored emotions? To promote healing, becoming aware of the cause will not be enough; emotional release connected with the emotions experienced will also be necessary.
How can varicose veins be relieved on a daily basis?
Diet can have a very significant impact on varicose veins. The first thing to do is therefore to follow a healthy and appropriate diet, as described below. Increase your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables even further, either raw or steamed depending on individual tolerance, to maintain healthy hydration.
Carrots in particular are rich in antioxidants that stimulate blood circulation to improve cell oxygenation and help improve the elimination of bodily fluids, thereby also helping with constipation problems. Beets are also excellent for promoting good digestion and blood circulation.
Which plants can help relieve varicose veins?
Horse chestnut is a miracle ingredient for treating varicose veins. In addition to tightening swollen veins, it soothes pain associated with varicose veins. However, its taste makes it difficult to drink. As an infusion: prepare a horse chestnut herbal tea, or use horse chestnut leaves, with honey to soften the taste.
Red vine stimulates blood circulation and relieves heavy legs. Its leaves are beneficial in cases of venous disorders. As an infusion: steep 1 teaspoon of dried red vine leaves in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes. Strain and drink 1 to 3 cups per day.
Also remember to support your liver with rosemary tea or a hot-water bottle placed over it, below the right breast, in the evening after dinner for 20 to 30 minutes.
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