The effects of aquatic exercise on pain severity and quality of life in women with varicose veins

Varicose is a condition that mainly occurs in the lining of the veins in the bottom of calf. It causes high blood accumulation and swelling in the legs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aquatic exercise on pain severity and quality of life in women with varicose veins. Atotal of Forty non exercised females with mild varicose and an average age of 41±8.721 years, mean weight of 69.72±10.183 kilograms were selected as volunteers, and were divided into two groups: hydrotherapy group and control group. Hydrotherapy group performed 18 sessions of exercise training, three sessions per week and each session 60 minutes with an intensity of 50-60 percent maximum repetition for each person. The change of pain measured by scale of VAS and quality of life measured by means of the Short-Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36). Data were analyzed by paired and independent samples t-test at a significant levels of P<0.05. The findings showed that in hydrotherapy group pain severity significantly decreased and quality of life significantly improved (P=0.000). While, in control group we just observed an improvement in quality of life (P=0.000). The inter-group differences in pain severity and quality of life were also significant (P=0.000). The results showed that aquatic exercise had a positive impact on reducing pain and improving quality of life of women with varicose veins.