Relief for Edema and Varicose Veins with Gentle Inversion

Elevating the legs is the simplest and most common natural remedy for bringing relief from swollen veins in the legs, edema, and the tired and achy feelings that often result from prolonged sitting or standing.

Whether you are seeking relief or prevention from varicose veins, or just ways to keep your leg circulation flowing in a healthy way, you may appreciate the feeling from gentle inversion.

Positioning your body safely in a low angle inversion helps to reduce inflammation or swelling in the feet, ankles and veins in the legs. This inverted pose can aid your overall recovery by draining fluids that are pooling in your legs. Much like the Legs-Up-The-Wall pose but with added benefits such as hip opening and spinal alignment. 

Conservative management is the medical terminology used for non invasive ways to bring relief and prevention. It is based upon lifestyle changes to alleviate symptoms without requiring a medical procedure. Conservative management approaches for those with chronic venous disorder of the lower extremities include leg elevation to improve oxygen transport to the skin and subcutaneous tissues, decrease edema, reduce inflammation.

According to David Coulter, Ph.D., who taught anatomy at the University of Minnesota for 18 years, when one inverts, tissue fluids of the lower extremities drain—far more effectively than when one is asleep. Areas of congestion clear. In a 1992 Yoga International article on the circulatory system, Coulter wrote: "If you can remain in an inverted posture for just 3 to 5 minutes, the blood will not only drain quickly to the heart, but tissue fluids will flow more efficiently into the veins and lymph channels of the lower extremities and of the abdominal and pelvic organs, facilitating a healthier exchange of nutrients and wastes between cells and capillaries."