National Walking Day Promotes Active Lifestyles and Improves Vein Health
Author: StrideCare Internal Team
Have you considered lacing up your sneakers and going for a nice long walk? If you do, you’ll be joined by millions of people around the country who are also taking steps to live a more active lifestyle on National Walking Day. This includes those who routinely get up and get moving every day to others who generally don’t engage in enough physical activity and are now struggling with or worried about their vein health. Join us on April 6 this year to promote active lifestyles and improve vein health!
The reality is that one-third of the global population over the age of 15 doesn’t engage in enough physical activity. That means we sit too much, whether at home or at work. Walking—even for 30 minutes a day—is an underrated way to stretch our legs, get the heart pumping, and increase blood flow throughout our body and in the veins in our lower extremities. Sadly, more than 20 million Americans lead sedentary lives. As a result, they have poor vein health that ranges from spider veins to painful varicose veins and any of the following life-interrupting vascular conditions:
- Leg and foot ulcers
- Chronic venous insufficiency
- Deep vein thrombosis (blood clots)
- Restless leg syndrome
- Chronic pelvic pain
- Peripheral arterial disease
- Pelvic congestion syndrome
Your vein health won’t improve on its own and can get worse if left unchecked. Scheduling an appointment with a vascular specialist at StrideCare is one way to seek a variety of treatment options. Exercise, avoiding smoking, and eating better are things you can do right now that have a larger impact than you think.
More About National Walking Day and Why It Matters
National Walking Day is observed annually on the first Wednesday in April. The American Heart Association created it in 2007 as part of a global effort to promote healthy living. It is routinely celebrated by schools, local organizations and clubs, walking groups, workplaces, and by healthcare providers everywhere. The good news is that you don’t have to be part of a larger entity to participate in National Walking Day. All you need to do is walk for 30 minutes—by yourself or with a friend—and then look for ways to add more walking into your weekly routine.
According to the CDC, more than 145 million adults include walking as part of a physically active lifestyle. Moreover, the National Institutes of Health say that “step intensity”—the number of steps per minute—isn’t near as important as simply putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on more steps. Their study suggested that adults who took 8,000 or more steps a day had a reduced risk of death over the following decade than those who only walked 4,000 steps a day.
Walking regularly has numerous benefits, including helping you:
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Burn calories
- Strengthen bones and muscles
- Improve endurance
- Boost energy and mood
- Decrease joint pain
- Prevent various conditions (heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, and vein health)
Vein Health is Still a Concern
Even with those increased numbers from the CDC, most research suggests that Americans sit almost 10 hours each day on average. That means we’re spending almost half our day sitting. This is a big deal, particularly when it comes to vein health. Veins are an elastic network of powerful vessels in the circulatory system that carries deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Unlike arteries, which carry blood away from the heart, veins need to push blood against gravity and support many systems critical to your cardiovascular health and many other functions of blood.
Bottom line, our veins play a vital role in blood circulation and provide pathways for blood to travel through our bodies. As we age, sometimes our veins don’t work as well. Sitting around too much each day only makes it harder for our veins to function properly. When you’re moving around and walking, there is increased blood flow throughout your body and in the veins in your lower extremities. Conversely, inactivity limits blood flow through the veins.
If your goal is to add more walking to your routine long after National Walking Day has come and gone, here are a few ways to walk more, stay moving, and improve vein health.
8 Actions to Improve Vein Health with Walking
- Schedule your walks – Make it a point to put your walking time on your calendar or to-do list. This could become a regular thing where you walk for 30 minutes before or after work.
- Find an accountability partner — It’s harder to get motivated to walk on National Walking Day or any other day if you’re doing it alone. Grab a spouse or friend who also needs some motivation and hit the trails together.
- Walk the dog — Taking the dog for a walk every day is a perfect excuse to get out of the house or away from work and get some important steps in.
- Change your workstation — Standing will lower the risks of vein disease. There are a variety of mobile and standing desk solutions that allow you to stay productive without having to be sedentary or sit for too long.
- Take the stairs — Skip the elevator and take the stairs, whether at work or while out shopping.
- Get your walk time in during lunch breaks — This is a perfect opportunity to get some walking in even when you’re stuck at work for most of the day. A quick 30-minute walk at lunch or during a work break will do wonders.
- Park further away — Choose parking spots that are further away from where you need to go. This will force you to get more steps in throughout the day.
- Stretch often — Lightly stretching your legs, feet, and calves after a walk or during times where you are sitting for extended periods improves circulation and increases flexibility.
StrideCare Wants to Help You Improve Your Vein Health
Vein disease does not cure itself, and there’s no way to prevent it completely. But it’s important to recognize vein health issues in early stages and seek help from a medical professional who can guide you on your next steps. If you aren’t sure if what you are experiencing is vein-related, give us a call.
StrideCare has long been a leader in performing leading-edge procedures to treat vein disease. This includes varicose veins, as well as spider vein treatment, chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), restless leg syndrome, chronic pelvic pain, pelvic congestion syndrome, May-Thurner Syndrome and more—all the while providing compassionate patient care.
StrideCare physicians are board certified diagnostic radiologists with additional fellowship training in vascular and interventional radiology. If your veins need treatment—or you have questions on how to avoid the onset of venous disease—the experts at StrideCare will recommend an individualized plan to help you get the best results. Request an appointment for a vein disease evaluation to discuss your options.
Prior to starting any new treatment or questions regarding a medical condition, always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider. This information is not a substitute for professional medical advice.
StrideCare serves the South Texas area including Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Round Rock, Bastrop, Brushy Creek, Cedar Park, Converse, Georgetown, Hutto, Kyle, Leander, Marble Falls, New Braunfels, Pasadena, Pearland, Pflugerville, San Marcos, Schertz, Houston, Sugar Land, Katy, Webster, Bay City, Clear Lake, Lake Jackson, The Woodlands, Universal City, Spring, Kingwood, Stafford, Conroe, Texas City, Cypress, League City, Bellaire, and more.
