Farewell stilton legs!
Countryfile star Julia Bradbury reveals how a pain-free varicose vein blaster finally gave her the confidence to wear skirts... and even take up pole-dancing!
SHE has made her name as the ‘walking man’s crumpet’ and trekked more than 3,400 miles – the distance from London to New York – during a string of hit television shows. But Julia Bradbury’s current exercise of choice does not require wellies, fleece, or any of the outdoor gear she is normally seen in on TV.
Her latest passion is pole-dancing, and it involves her wearing far more body-revealing attire.
Julia has found it’s a great way to tackle stress – yet it is an exercise that she wouldn’t have even dared to try a year ago, she says. She was so conscious of her legs that for years she hid them away under trousers or leggings.
Julia was among the 30 per cent of adults to suffer from varicose veins. And hers, according to the doctor who has finally rid her of them, was a severe case.
Julia, 45, says: ‘I’ve been plagued by thread veins since I was in my 20s, but four months into my pregnancy with my twin girls Xanthe and Zena, who are now 15 months old, varicose veins started to emerge behind my knee and down my calves, and my legs looked like stilton. They were awful.
‘I feared I’d never be able to wear a dress or skirt again. I’ve always consciously avoided short skirts and shorts and I became the mistress of disguise, wearing leggings and the right shirt, even on holiday.’
Thread veins are tiny blood vessels close to the surface of the skin and look like fine red wiggly lines, while varicose veins are swollen and enlarged, often becoming bulging or twisted in appearance.
In healthy veins, blood flows smoothly to the heart and is prevented from flowing backwards by a series of tiny valves that open and close to let blood through.
If these valves weaken or are damaged, the blood can flow backwards and collect in the vein, eventually causing it to become swollen.
Dr David West, who treated Julia at London’s Veincentre Clinic, explains: ‘Genetic weakness is the cause of varicose veins. If your mother or grandmother has them, then you are likely to get them too.’
IN JULIA’S case both her parents suffer from varicose veins, but hers became more noticeable in pregnancy because as a baby grows, it puts pressure on the large vein on the right side of the body (the inferior vena cava), which in turn increases pressure in the leg veins.
Julia, who with her partner, property developer Gerard Cunningham, 56, also has a four-year-old son Zeph, admits: ‘My second pregnancy was much tougher, and as part of getting back into shape I wanted to see if something more long-lasting could be done to fix the veins on my legs.
‘Having been through five gruelling rounds of IVF, I was keen to avoid anything that was particularly invasive or involved a general anaesthetic, which is why laser treatment offered by Dr West’s clinic appealed.’
Dr West, who had to carry out the treatments last year around Julia’s busy work schedule, says: ‘We had to discover where the faulty valves were rather than just treating the effects.
‘Julia had an ultrasound scan to see what her veins looked like and how they were working. In her case the valves in both big veins from the groin to the ankle were not functioning properly. You can’t mend the valve, so you have to take away the vein that’s causing the problem.
‘It used to be that the vein would be stripped away under general anaesthetic, but the newer way is heating it with a laser and getting rid of it that way. After injecting a local anaesthetic to the area to be treated, a thin laser fibre is inserted into the vein through a needle puncture and this then heats up the vein wall and destroys it.’
Julia says: ‘It wasn’t painful, more like a tickling sensation. The worst part was the burning smell as the laser does its job. The initial session took about an hour and you get used to it.’
Julia had to wear surgical stockings for a week after each of her six treatments to reduce swelling and pain.
Treatment at the Veincentre usually costs £200 for an initial consultation and then an average of £1,695 for one leg, or £1,995 for both.
Julia is happy with her results. ‘I can’t boast that I’ve got flawless legs but the improvement is astonishing. I feel more confident about going bare-legged, which is brilliant now the summer is here.
‘I don’t have to think about how best to disguise my legs and can wear dresses and skirts that are a bit shorter without feeling selfconscious. My legs feel smooth to the touch and I feel sure that this is a permanent solution to the problem that has plagued me for most of my adult life.’
As for the 9ft-tall floor-to-ceiling pole in the basement of her sevenstorey house, the TV star reveals she became hooked on pole-dancing after seeing a couple doing a routine demonstrating the increasingly fashionable exercise at a restaurant in Ibiza. ‘It was really impressive and I knew I wanted to have a go,’ she says. ‘Like any exercise, it’s a great stress-buster and puts me in a great mood. Plus I’ve always loved music, so to be able to combine both is perfect.’
She admits the idea of pole-dancing can, by some, be misconstrued but she considers it a tough and disciplined form of exercise.
‘There’s a definite mystique about it, and whenever anyone comes round for dinner the first thing they want to do is see the pole and have a go – but there is a lot more involved than just shinning up it. It can be really punishing on the body but it is great fun.
‘When I’m walking, I have the time to think and clear my head. With pole-dancing, I don’t have time to think – I’m too busy trying to figure out what to do to stop myself landing in a heap on the floor.
‘I don’t think I would have had the confidence to throw myself into it if I’d not had my veins done, so the operation really has been life-changing.’