Redhouse

I haven't been able to find very much info on the net or else where, of people with Vascular problems riding bikes. I started riding to help with my weight loss and for the last few weeks it's been fine. But now, this last few days my legs are swollen more then they usually do.

Anyone else out there with Vascular problems, Venous Stasis, or just poor circulation, riding?

Tom Stormcrowe

Chronic Venous stasis here, and the riding did wonders for it! The muscular pumping action helps squeeze out the edema and my legs stay normal sized now. Losing a huge amount of weight has also helped with the problem as well. If you look at my lower legs, you can see the permanent discoloration from the edema from Stasis disease.

Tom Stormcrowe

Chronic Venous stasis here, and the riding did wonders for it! The muscular pumping action helps squeeze out the edema and my legs stay normal sized now. Losing a huge amount of weight has also helped with the problem as well. If you look at my lower legs, you can see the permanent discoloration from the edema from Stasis disease.








Here's where I started out again, cycling, note the Oxygen tank.....should give you an idea of how bad I wanted this!


and last, where I started out:

Redhouse

Hey Tom, thanks for the reply! I have Venous Stasis, I have had it for a couple years now and know first hand what it's like living with the discoloration, especially around the area where the Ulcers have come and gone.

Can you tell me what kind of riding routine you did and how did it effect your legs? How did you do it? What you accomplished is awesome!

Tom Stormcrowe

I started with what I could tolerate and built steadily. As I first started out, I could only do about 1/4 of a mile. Right now, my personal best is 167 miles in 11 1/2 hrs, single day. It takes a fanatic dedication, but fortunately, it's also a lot of fun! I concentrate on operating in the aerobic zone primarily, at 65-70% Max HR. Then again, I'm not training for road racing, but endurance. Ultra long distance is my thing, dontcha know! The muscular action involved in pedaling helps the blood circulate back out of the legs.

Venous Stasis is caused by incompetency of the valves in the veins that are there to prevent backflow and pooling of the blood. The muscular compression helps the blood OUT of the legs, which reduces and eventually eliminates the edema. The old blood tattooing in your legs will be a permanent feature, I'm afraid, it'll never go away. The legs, however, will be a lot healthier too! Don't worry about speed yet, until you develop better aerobic capacity. Concentrate instead on developing breathing and endurance. Learn good hydration habits and proper ride nutrition, and when the endurance part gets addressed, start working on sprints as well to get into the anaerobic zone.

I would also talk to your doctor before you do the anaerobic stage, as coronary disease can be concealed by Stasis disease symptoms, as well as Peripheral Artery disease (All three cause swelling of the legs from edema). Get pedaling, and feel free to ask me anything you'd like. I'll try my best to give you an accurate answer. You can PM me also, if you feel it's too sensitive for general forum as well. The answers I give though are never to be construed as "Medical Advice", and are based off of my own experiences as well as a good background in physiology as well as psychology and motivation theories. (Behavioral Psychology is my field of study).

(51)

Does dried skin accompany this? I have some dry skin where my ankle was broken once a few years back. It never returned to its original state. There is still a bruise there almost 10 years later.

fig

To add to Tom's message, swelling of the legs is also one of the signs of congestive heart failure.

Tom Stormcrowe

Yes, it can...it's also a potential symptom of Diabetes.

Tom Stormcrowe

Which is a form of coronary disease You are right to mention it though.

Symptoms of this aspect are a chronic cough and shortness of breath due to fluid buildup affecting lung volume as well as the hearts ability to pump blood.

Redhouse

I'm 32 and have had Venous Stasis since I was 26 years old. It started out with a leg ulcer on my left calf that wouldn't heal. I went to the doctor and he sent me to see a Vascular Doctor at the UIC in Chicago. He diagnosed me with Venous Stasis Disease and put me under the knife and did the ballooning surgery, which helped for a short time. Since then I have had two laser surgeries which has helped greatly and prevented any more Ulcers.

I'm healthy otherwise, with nothing else wrong and no family history of heart problems or Cancer or much of anything else, just varicose veins which is where all this started. Like any one else with this problem, I live with the daily swelling and have to wear the compression stocking's. Since I started working out a month ago, my legs have been fine with riding. A few days ago I wiped out and hit my right leg pretty hard, which bruised it. Since then, it's swollen from that and with the normal swelling it's been bad the last few days.

Since I got Venous Stasis, I was always told to stay off my legs and limit the amount of activity I do. In return, the last six years has caused me to gain weight and go from being around 245 to just over 300. Now I have a new Doctor that believes in exercise by swiming and biking. With Venous Stasis, you can't run or jog you need lower impact to prevent more blood pooling in the legs. So, now I'm researching better ways to work out with out hurting myself. I'm down 17 pounds since I started by riding, weight lifting and eating right.

HAMMER MAN

outstanding Tom!!!!

Tom Stormcrowe

Redhouse, if you hadn't mentioned the new Dr, I was going to suggest finding one!
I've never heard of inactivity as a treatment for Chronic Venous Stasis except for when you have an active cellulitis infection going!

Keep an eye on that bruising though for any sign of breakdown. The tissue with Stasis disease is a bit fragile. Also, really, really, really, really watch the hygiene if you break the skin due to impaired immune response and slow healing from the stasis edema.

Tom Stormcrowe

One other thing, Red! If you are going to be sedentary...like at a desk, wear your support stockings!

(51)

What about Varicose veins? My Mother's genes gave me a few. Will biking "revive" those dead veins? It seems a few are up and running, but I have a few dead purple ones still as well. Should I be concerned about those?

Tom Stormcrowe

Purple clogged veins won't reopen, but you will develop new venous pathways to replace them. As long as the varicose veins aren't painful, they are relatively harmless. Activity will help keep new ones from forming though!

Tom Stormcrowe

Here's the skinny:

Every hour you spend in exercise extends your health and lifespan. Physical exercise improves cardiovascular health, pulmonary health, mental acuity, overall, it affects your body in a holistic manner! It also improves immune function.

It's inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle that'll kill us sooner!

(51)

Thanks for the quick responses! By the way, I thought you were off on a mission of sorts. Do you have a laptop strapped to your handlebars?

Tom Stormcrowe

Temporarily home. Earlena got sick on tour and we had to come home . I'm going back up on the first to finish out the tour solo.

xlrogue

Discoloration on the front of my calves was one of the biggies that got me back on the bike about 3 years ago--doc told me it was due to poor circulation. I also lost most of the hair on my calves, which now kinda seems like an asset, given the frequent shaving discussions on some of the other forums . That discolored skin is gradually returning to normal now, although I doubt it'll make a full comeback. Guess I'll just have to keep riding and find out. Dry skin, which used to be pretty much a constant now is an occasional irritation. In fact my feet used to have all kinds of dry, dead, cracking skin, which has altogether disappeared. Rather than go on at length about all the benefits of regular riding (pretty much daily for me, but that may not be for every one), I'll just say stick with it for 3 months--at that point some of the positive changes will start to be easily noticeable, such as formerly jiggly parts of your body turning into muscle.

Tom Stormcrowe

Yep, the improved circulation in your legs has improved your skin health as well! What we have here is a good small empirical study of the benefits of cycling for circulation, dermel repair and improved cardiac health!

S. cerevisiae

My only issue has been two bouts with DVT (clots) in left calf. Both were the result of injury, one a torn vein from a poorly fitted knee brace-the other was a kick while playing for my soccer club. No other issues or recurrences.

Good on both of you for using cycling for return to health. Keep at it and you'll undoubtedly find it's fun too.

Incidentally, I hate coumadin.

Redhouse

Thanks for the replies, it's encouraging to me to hear the stories of other people who are having good re***** with riding and working out. After having two laser surgeries on my veins, my leg hair has started to come back. I do wish they would find a way to help the discolored skin to return back to normal.

For those living with varicose veins, you don't have to, the surgery to remove them is really nothing. They numb your leg and make very small incisions and pull them out, it's out patient and you could be back to work the next day. You have to watch them, if they start to grow it's a sign of much worse vein trouble.

DieselDan

The current US Champion, George Hincapie, has a bad case of varicose veins.