8 Tips for Tired Legs

Now that the heat arrives, it is quite common to feel tired, heavy legs, as if the circulation did not flow at all … It can happen to you from being on your feet for many hours or also if you suffer from varicose veins or venous insufficiency. In any case, you should consult a doctor but if it is not your case and it is due to something specific, take note of the advice to alleviate it that we have prepared with the help of Dr. José María Fuentes, specialist in Angiology and Vascular Surgery of the Mi Tres Torres Clinic.

APPLY A COLD EFFECT GEL

"The relief is instant and you can put it on as many times as you want," says Dr. Fuentes, a specialist in Angiology and Vascular Surgery. These gels, with refreshing active ingredients such as menthol, eucalyptus or alcohol, help reduce inflammation and facilitate circulation thanks to the fact that they stimulate the blood vessels, producing a muscle contraction.

GIVE YOURSELF A MASSAGE

You can massage yourself with the cold gel or with a cream for tired legs that contains active ingredients that improve circulation (rosemary, ginseng, ginkgo), strengthen the capillaries (vine, horse chestnut, escin, ruscus) and drain (horsetail , ivy). Trace movements from the bottom up. Combine these upward glides with an open-handed "kneading" without digging in.

DO YOU SPEND HOURS STANDING OR SITTING?

If you spend many hours on your feet, balance yourself as this rocking movement enhances muscle contraction and relaxation in the calves and helps improve return circulation. On the other hand, if your work requires many hours sitting, use a footrest. It should be a footrest that allows the knees to be above the hips. This counteracts the heaviness of the legs, the same as taking a little walk every hour.

FILL YOUR PANTRY WITH FLAVONOIDS

Flavonoids are compounds present in vegetables with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, it is recommended to follow a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. "Artichokes, pineapple, blueberries, pomegranate and red berries", recommends Ana Paula Beccari, nutritionist at the Instituto de Benito. The artichoke is diuretic, the pineapple is draining, the blueberries and the pomegranate are rich in tannins and flavonoids, which benefit the venous wall. And the red fruits are anti-inflammatory.

Salt: away from the kitchen and your diet

Salt is synonymous with fluid retention. "We must avoid foods that contain it in excess such as sausages, cheeses, snacks, soy sauce, canned food in general, hamburgers, sausages …", says Beccari, because it is not only the salt that you add when cooking, but the one that already takes many foods that you consume. And many times, healthy foods are the most salty such as bread, legumes, some sweeteners such as saccharin, butter and margarine … Discover foods with hidden salt and avoid fluid retention!

Tune your muscles

Regardless of medical and hormonal reasons, "the problem with noticing that heaviness can be insufficient muscle tone," says Rubén Ávila, personal trainer at Holmes Place. "Venous return is passive and it also lives on muscle contraction, on the strength of our muscles," adds Ávila. "The best thing is to do physical exercise with external loads," says the trainer. If you're not afraid of weights that's great news, but if you don't see yourself in the gym using the machines, do yoga at the end of the day. A series of asanas that includes some in which you support your legs (apart and together) on the wall will relieve you.

Squats for your legs

Ávila proposes a training plan to do two or three days a week at home. They are about 30 or 40 minutes per session that seek to "stimulate the tissue to the maximum to cause changes," explains the coach. Do each of these four exercises until you "can't take it anymore": squats, holding down for a few seconds. Rowing with elastic bands. Push-ups with your knees on the ground and your body rigid. At the end, hip lifts, lying down, keep the hips lifted by squeezing the glutes and abdomen tightly. Remember: movements must be slow and controlled.

Ducks to water!

You can also make use of the pool, swimming and walking with your legs submerged in the water will improve your circulation. Then, spend some time stretching and flexing your feet and knees.

Tired legs: what you should do

If you notice tired legs throughout the day, this is what you have to do when you get home to alleviate that feeling of heaviness.

Toe-heel exercises . Performing toe-heel exercises boosts the muscle pump, that is, it activates the set of calf muscles to help the heart in blood circulation.
Apply hot-cold. In the shower, alternate hot and cold water. The cold tones and generates a venous vasoconstriction; and the heat favors the dilation of the veins.
Legs up. It will not make your venous insufficiency better, but it will help relieve the heaviness in your legs.

And if you go to your beauty center or to your physio …

Cold bandages. Soaked in a solution with butcher's broom, menthol or camphor, the legs are wrapped and allowed to act.
Pressotherapy . You put on a pneumatic 'suit' and air pressure is applied.
Ice massage . The physio will use wrapped cubes.
Manual lymphatic drainage. Eliminates excess fluid and activates circulation.