Varicose Veins

 For many people, varicose veins are simply a cosmetic concern. So are spider veins, a common, mild form of varicose veins. But varicose veins can cause aching pain and discomfort. Sometimes they lead to more-serious health problems.

 Varicose veins are bulging, enlarged veins. Any vein that is close to the skin's surface, called superficial, can become varicosed. Varicose veins most often affect the veins in the legs. That's because standing and walking increase the pressure in the veins of the lower body. 

 Weak or damaged valves can lead to varicose veins. Arteries carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Veins return blood from the rest of the body to the heart. To return blood to the heart, the veins in the legs must work against gravity.

Muscles tighten in the lower legs to act as pumps. Vein walls help blood return to the heart. Tiny valves in the veins open as blood flows toward the heart, then close to stop blood from flowing backward. If these valves are weak or damaged, blood can flow backward and pool in the veins, causing the veins to stretch or twist.

 Varicose veins might not cause pain. Symptoms of varicose veins include:

• Veins that are dark purple, blue or the same color as the skin. Depending on skin color, these changes may be harder or easier to see.
• Veins that look twisted and bulging. They often look like cords on the legs.

When there are painful symptoms of varicose veins, they might include:

• An achy or heavy feeling in the legs.
• Burning, throbbing, muscle cramping and swelling in the lower legs.
• Worse pain after sitting or standing for a long time.
• Itching around one or more of the veins.
• Changes in skin color around a varicose vein.

Spider veins are like varicose veins, but they're smaller. Spider veins are found closer to the skin's surface and might look like a spider's web.

Spider veins occur on the legs but also can be found on the face. They vary in size and often look like a spider's web.

 Treatment for varicose veins may include self-care measures, compression stockings, and surgeries or procedures. Procedures to treat varicose veins are often done as outpatient procedures. That means you most often go home on the same day.

Ask your insurer if varicose vein treatment is a covered cost. If varicose vein treatment is done only to make your legs look better, this is called cosmetic. Your insurance might not cover it.

 Getting better blood flow and muscle tone might lower the risk of having varicose veins. The same ways you treat the discomfort from varicose veins can help prevent them. Try the following:

• Don't wear high heels or tight stockings, other than compression stockings.
• Change how you sit or stand often.
• Eat a high-fiber, low-salt diet.
• Exercise.
• Raise your legs when sitting or lying down.
• Keep a healthy weight.

 If self-care steps and compression stockings don't work, or varicose veins are more severe, a healthcare professional might suggest surgery or other procedures:

• Sclerotherapy. Your River City Vascular specialist would inject the varicose veins with a solution or foam that scars and closes them. In a few weeks, treated varicose veins should fade.
  Some veins might need shots more than once. You don't need to be asleep for sclerotherapy. It can be done in our office!
• High ligation and vein stripping. This procedure involves first tying off a varicose vein before the place where it joins a deep vein. The next step is removing the varicose vein through small cuts. This is an outpatient procedure for most people.
  Removing the vein won't keep blood from flowing in the leg. That's because veins deeper in the leg take care of the larger amounts of blood.
• Ambulatory phlebectomy. Your River City Vascular specialist would remove smaller varicose veins through tiny pricks in the skin. Only the parts of the leg that are being pricked are numbed in this outpatient procedure. Most often there's not much scarring.