Natural Remedies For Varicose Veins During Pregnancy

Here’s what we’re told: Varicose veins during pregnancy are the result of a build up of pressure inside the vein. Blood pools, pressure builds, and we have structural damage to the vein. If you’re pregnant, you have an increased risk of developing varicose veins. 

Some other risk factors:

• Activity levels
• Weight
• Gender
• Age

These associations are interesting…

But what is the root cause of varicose veins during pregnancy?

The root cause of varicose veins during pregnancy, according to Chinese medicine

What if I told you that TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) understands varicose veins according to a pattern? And once we see the pattern, then we’re able to take action and restore balance to the body. 

First off, this isn’t medical advice because you have your own unique history and what’s going on in your body may be different than what I am describing.

I’m going to speak in generalizations about varicose veins during pregnancy and it may give you some insight into your own personal health goals. 

💌 I recently got this question about varicose veins…

I have a varicose vein that got a lot worse during pregnancy and never went back. ive tried supps etc with no lasting change. I have been thinking I should try acupuncture for it, but was curious if you recommend a Chinese medicine herb blend that you’ve seen results with your clients?

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) uses the body like a map. Colors, odors, and texture all mean something. So, when considering natural remedies for varicose veins during pregnancy, two things come to mind: 

• Spleen qi deficiency, or gut deficiency: We see this in the lax vasculature and bulging veins.
• Blood stasis: We see this in color, purple and dark red.

During pregnancy, we expect the body to be a little more energy or qi deficient. 

☀️ Spleen energy, as it’s called in TCM, refers to digestive energy. And we see this play out in the microbiome as well; it’s been found that in a healthy third trimester of pregnancy, there is a little dysbiosis and low grade intestinal inflammation. 

This energy deficiency is good to address during pregnancy. Boosting qi can even support both mom and baby. The degree that we do this would depend on the degree of energy deficiency that we see. 

🩸 The other (obvious) aspect of varicose veins is blood stasis. Pooled blood. Purple red veins. It’s something we literally see. 

But according to Chinese medicine, we do not want to take big steps to move blood stasis during pregnancy. This is really something for before pregnancy, when it can support fertility. Or after, when it can support recovery. 

⚠️ Blood stasis is generally not something we want to address during pregnancy.

Signs of energy deficiency, or trouble holding blood

The digestive energy of the body is called “spleen qi” in traditional Chinese medicine. And it’s relevant to our convo about natural remedies for varicose veins because energy – or qi – helps to hold blood in the vessels. 

In Chinese medicine, your digestive energy governs blood. 

So when this energy is weak or deficient, then the function of holding breaks down. This is when we see… 

• Bruising
• Heavy menstrual bleeding
• A swollen tongue with teeth marks
• Varicose veins

Your digestive energy also raises the fire of your body, or what’s called clear yang 🔥

When this lifting function isn’t happening we get…

• Low energy
• Prolapse
• Hemorrhoids
• Varicose veins

🌿 As an aside, the herb astragalus raises the body’s clear yang – or clear fire. But we always want to use herbs in a formula because this is how we get the best results. 

An accumulation of “dampness,” which is associated with yeast overgrowth and excess phlegm, is heavy. 

And so when digestive energy is weak, not only is our clear fire not doing its upward thing, but we also have this intrinsic heaviness. 

Which makes it hard to move things around. This can lead to swelling and poor circulation. 

As you may notice, there could be a few factors involved. But not all at the same time. This is why care for varicose veins during pregnancy is unique to each person.

Signs of blood stasis, or stagnant blood

According to Chinese medicine, blood can become stagnant for a number of reasons. 

When we see varicose veins during pregnancy or afterwards during postpartum, there are a few possibilities: 

• There’s not enough energy to move blood around.
• You feel too much stress, even if it’s subtle. In TCM, blood is said to carry the emotions. It’s the material basis for emotions. So, when emotions become knotted, blood can too. 
• There is an underlying blood deficiency, which can lead to stasis. For example, a once gushing river that is reduced to a trickle, we’re more likely to see the water move slowly and pool.

Signs of blood stasis include:

• A “dusky” tongue, which has a purple hue
• Sharp and stabbing pain
• Fibroids and cysts
• Clots in menstrual blood
• Stiffness, numbness, or tingling 
• Spider veins and varicose veins 

Natural remedies for varicose veins during pregnancy

With these two patterns in mind, I hope it’s easier to understand how tanked energy loops into blood stasis…and the pattern self-generates unless we do something about it. 

In my experience, Chinese medicine offers the best natural remedy for varicose veins. And this is because varicose veins are a flag for an overall imbalance. When we make little adjustments to restore balance, like…

• Fortifying your energy to hold blood
• Lifting the clear fire of the body
• Moving blood stagnation
• If needed, building blood too

Then the whole body gets healthier. And yes, varicose veins can resolve with herbal medicine or with the addition of acupuncture and food therapy. 

Remedy 1 for varicose veins: Make little adjustments in diet.

For varicose veins during pregnancy, we know there’s a little blood stasis and low digestive energy. While we won’t address the blood stasis until postpartum, we can nourish energy. This means:

• Warm, well cooked foods that are easy to digest, like a soup or stew
• Root veggies and squash are earthy foods to support digestion
• Avoiding excess dairy or added sugar, since these can be overwhelming and contribute to “damp” 
• Kitchen spices like cardamom, dried ginger powder, dried lemon peel are all very supportive

Remedy 2 for varicose veins: Consult with a TCM herbalist.

In Chinese medicine, there are some herbs that go up and/or stabilize pregnancy. 

And also – we basically never use single herbs. The best way to support the body is with a formula, or a hierarchy of herbs that do different things for one common goal. 

Some Chinese herbs that help to support digestion and stabilize pregnancy are: 

• Astragalus, or Huang Qi
• Atractylodes, or Bai Zhu
• Black cohosh, or Sheng Ma more for heat and wind, or headaches

If you’re dealing with varicose veins, there’s a good chance that astragalus would be in your formula. But according to textbooks, astragalus is an herb to use with caution during pregnancy. Especially during the third trimester.

After pregnancy, this is when we go in with blood movers. Which will not only help to clear varicose veins, but also support postpartum recovery. WIN 🙌

Remedy 3 for varicose veins: Do a little tapping during gut time 9 – 11 am.

This remedy is more supportive for overall energy and is a safe way to access acupuncture points during pregnancy.

Consistent support over time can be transformative. For varicose veins during pregnancy, we would pair self massage with herbs during postpartum. 

According to Chinese medicine, each organ system has a two hour window of energy flow. Since we want to focus on spleen qi, or gut energy, then ideally we can tap and massage the body during the 9 – 11 am window. 

But really, self massage is good any time of day. 

🔑 Be gentle. Be soft. Remember qi is energy, not physical force. 

1. We’re doing a figure 8 pattern, starting on the right side. 
2. On the right knee, tap Stomach 36 (20x). This point is 3 fingers below the knee, on the outside of the shin bone. 
3. On the left foot, outside of the big toe and over the bunion bone 😁 tap Spleen 3 (20x).
4. Move back up to Stomach 36, this time on the left side. Tap 20x.
5. Complete your strengthening figure 8 by going back down to the feet, this time Spleen 3 on the right foot. Tap 20x. 

Do you have any questions about natural remedies for varicose veins during pregnancy? Drop them in the comments below!