How to Improve Blood Circulation
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If your legs feel tight or painful when you walk and are swelling up below the knees and around the ankles, you are probably suffering from poor blood circulation.
Before you take action you need to be sure, so make an appointment with your doctor. He will arrange test to be done to diagnose if that`s the case.
If the answer is yes, then there is much you can do to help yourself. Beware if the doc wants to prescribe water pills or any sort of medication before he advises you on natural ways to try and relieve the problem. Who wants to take any more pills than they really need to?
Knowledge about the way blood circulates around the body will help you understand how to improve blood circulation in your legs and arms.
There are quite a few health problems and lifestyle habits that can cause bad circulation.
| The Health Problems: |
| The Lifestyle Habits: |
Bad circulation caused by most of these may be greatly improved or even eliminated using the following methods.
How to Improve Blood Circulation Using Massage and Hydro-massage
Massage to your muscles helps them push blood back to the heart through your veins, increasing the vital oxygen needed to keep the tissue in your legs from deterioration which causes ulcers and can eventually lead to gangrene.
You have a natural pump in the sole of your foot, consisting of a series of large veins called the Venous Plexus. These veins fill with blood and when we walk, the blood is forced out and up the leg.
How does it work? When your foot is flattened the Venous Plexus is stretched and the blood squeezed out. It is natures way of helping the blood back from the extremities of the feet to the heart.
The veins however, work in a different way than the arteries. Where the blood is pushed through the arteries by the pump action of the heart and regulated by smooth muscle around them restricting and dilating (blood pressure mechanism), just like a hose when you turn the nozzle to make the water more forceful, the veins don`t work this way and don`t have as much smooth muscle.
The blood returning to the heart is fighting against gravity, and has a long way back. It is shunted through veins and is being pushed up mainly by the Venous Plexus in the soul of the feet when it`s squeezed and the calf muscles which also do a lot of the work.
Anything that can help prevent this, relieve strain on your heart, and lower blood pressure is welcome. So consider trying out both these methods of massage.
For immediate results you need to get the muscles moving. If you can`t do this easily by walking or other exercise, don`t worry, there are effective devices which are tested and approved therapeutic electrical stimulants that get to work straight away.
Vascular Surgeons, Doctors and Healthcare professionals have worked with health technicians on how to improve blood circulation through electro-stimulation, and have created a practical and easy-to-use blood circulation aid.
Because I sit for long periods of time at my desk, I suffer from circulation problems myself, so naturally being concerned about it, I was interested when I heard about electrical stimulation and that it could boost the circulation. My feet used to swell and I had a large numb patch on my left thigh.
This sort of lifestyle or regular standing in one position, can lead also to the development of varicose veins. They develop through lack of muscle action which is responsible for shunting the blood back up the legs toward the heart. A combination of these problems puts an overall strain on the whole cardiovascular system and can cause your blood pressure to rise.
Anyway, after trying out a friend`s device and experiencing it`s effectiveness, I went ahead and bought my own personal unit and this is what I experienced:
I noticed results within just a few weeks of using this device for 30 minutes every morning and evening with the intensity level on 20. I have no more pain when walking and my feet are not swelling up after sitting long hours at my computer. I also experience a nice buzz after using the device, the same as you would after a session in the gym and I notice the sensitivity is returning to the numb area on my left thigh.
You can actually see the calf muscles and other muscles in the feet moving as the low frequency electro-waves pulsate up your legs, rotating every minute through several beneficial programs.
You can also use Circulation Booster Socks, a brilliant, technological device, which is ideal if you are bed-ridden or you are going to be travelling long distances.
The Circulation Booster Mobile (socks) are only sold in the UK.
Two other ways to help improve blood circulation and reduce high blood pressure is by massage therapy and hydro-massage therapy.
With Massage Therapy, pressure points on the foot souls, ankles and calves are massaged, stimulating the muscles which push blood back to the heart.
In hydrotherapy, hot and cold water affects the blood vessels in a very special way. The hot water will cause the blood vessels near the surface of the skin to dilate so that more blood can flow, cool down and maintain the right temperature, whereas the cold water will cause the vessels to restrict, and keep the blood away from the surface to maintain correct temperature. When these two mechanisms are alternated several times, it gets the blood circulating, bringing oxygen to skin, muscles and tissue.
You can either book an appointment with a local massage therapist, hydro-therapist, or you can use therapeutic devices at home.
How to improve blood circulation using thermal bath massage, simply works by pumping air, with or without ozone, through hydro-jets that can be set to target different muscles in your body.
Has this been proven to work? Well after considering what the doctors said about the effects of stimulating the muscles using Electro-stimulation, the same results are reached by stimulating the muscles using hydro-massage. The only difference is, hot water is used in hydro-massage which also has a beneficial affect on blood vessels, an extra bonus when using this therapy.
Consider this: A study carried out on 15 people by the Mayo Clinic revealed that after exercise, there was an average blood pressure rise of 121/73 to 170/84, but after a soak in a hot tub, their blood pressure dropped on average, from 117/77 to 106/61 while their heart rate increased.
How to Improve Blood Circulation in Your Legs Using Hydrotherapy
Start off by making sure you are warm, the room is warm, and you warm up a pair of knee length socks. Fill a deep tub or bucket with cold water, step in, and tread water for 10 seconds, lifting each knee up high with each step. Finish by wiping off excess water from the legs, thoroughly drying toes, and putting on the warm socks.
How to Improve Blood Circulation in Cold Feet Using Hydrotherapy
To improve the blood circulation of cold feet, start by warming a pair of socks and keep them warm, then alternately step into a bowl of hot water for 5 minutes, right foot first, and then into a bowl of cold water for 10 seconds, also right foot first. Repeat this process 2 or 3 times and finish by wiping off excess water, thoroughly drying toes and then putting on the warm socks.
Please Take Precautions or Avoid if you:
People with circulatory problems should consult their doctors before embarking upon any therapy.
P.S. Know how to improve blood circulation by learning why bad circulation and high blood pressure are connected. Here you will learn additional information about about herbal remedies that can help your circulation to get going.
Enjoy your new-found freedom as your circulation fires up once more.
Gem
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