What causes varicose veins?
One-way valves in your leg veins open to let blood flow up the vein toward your heart, and then they close to stop the blood from going back down the vein. When these one-way valves fail, however, blood refluxes and pools in the vein, a condition called chronic venous insufficiency.
As the blood accumulates, the vein enlarges, causing twisted purple and blue varicose veins that bulge above the surface of your skin.
What symptoms develop as a result of varicose veins?
Though some people don’t have symptoms other than unattractive veins, many people experience:
- Painful or aching legs
- Swollen legs, feet, and ankles
- Burning or itching sensations
- Skin discoloration
- Heavy-feeling legs
- Tired legs
- Restless legs
Though you may decide to get your varicose veins treated for cosmetic reasons, there’s more at stake. Engorged varicose veins and chronic venous insufficiency can lead to serious health complications. Eliminating varicose veins also gets rid of the underlying insufficiency.
What complications do varicose veins and venous insufficiency cause?
Varicose veins increase your risk for deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot that can become life-threatening if it travels to your lungs.
Chronic venous insufficiency increases the pressure in your lower leg veins. High venous pressure eventually leads to problems like thickened and discolored skin, and leg and foot wounds called venous stasis ulcers.
Venous stasis ulcers get progressively larger and they’re difficult to heal. They also increase your risk of developing skin and bone infections.
How are varicose veins treated?
Dr. Pero offers four varicose vein treatments.
Sclerotherapy
Dr. Pero injects medication in spider veins or varicose veins that seals the vein walls together. Your body automatically reroutes blood flow through the nearby healthy veins, effectively treating chronic venous insufficiency. Over time, your body absorbs the treated veins and your varicose veins disappear.
Endovenous ablation
During endovenous ablation, Dr. Pero inserts a thin catheter into the vein and uses ClosureFast™ or VenaSeal™ to close the vein. ClosureFast uses controlled radiofrequency energy to seal the vein, while VenaSeal does the job with a medical adhesive.
Like sclerotherapy, the treated vein then turns into scar tissue and is absorbed, while blood starts to flow normally through a healthy vein.
Phlebectomy
After making a series of very tiny incisions along the varicose vein, Dr. Pero uses a hook-like device to remove the veins by gently pulling them through the incisions
If you’re ready to get rid of varicose veins, call Integrative Foot and Ankle or book an appointment online.
Laser for varicose veins and spider veins
Laser/light therapy is a non-toxic and non-invasive therapy that uses light energy to destroy unwanted cells and veins. During laser/light therapy, a laser is applied to the spider veins. The laser transmits photons that are absorbed by the blood cells in the veins, which generates heat that destroys the blood vessel. The damaged vein shrinks and eventually dissolves over time.
