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EXCLUSIVELY DEVOTED & FOCUSED ON VENOUS DISEASE

Month: March 2018

For most people, varicose veins are a cosmetic concern that causes embarrassment and prevents you from wearing the attire and footwear that you want. In some cases, people with untreated varicose veins may also experience some discomfort and other symptoms such as pain, restless legs, swelling, and heaviness in the legs.

What Happens If You Leave Varicose Veins Untreated | Vein Specialist

It is recommended that you visit a vein specialist as early as possible before the symptoms of varicose veins get worse. If left untreated, patients often report more severe symptoms that may require emergency treatment, such as:

  • Bleeding – When the skin around the affected veins becomes damaged to the extent of exposing the varicose vein, a small puncture could result in spontaneous bleeding. This blood loss is usually painless.
  • Hyperpigmentation – Refers to darkening of the skin around the area with varicose veins. As pressure increases in the bulging veins, some of the oxygen-depleted blood may begin to leak from affected veins and flow into the surrounding tissues, resulting in inflammation, swelling, and discolored skin pigmentation. Commonly occurs in the lower leg area.
  • Venous leg ulcers – These also occur when the affected veins burst due to increased pressure, allowing blood to flow into the surrounding tissues. When the red blood cells interact directly with the tissues, they may cause the skin to break down and form painful ulcers. These ulcers typically won’t heal until you treat the varicose veins.
  • Lipodermatosclerosis – This is a result of venous insufficiency where the skin around the problematic veins hardens and becomes discolored. Some pain and swelling is also very common. This usually occurs around the ankles.
  • Superficial thrombophlebitis – clotting or damage of the veins located just below the surface of the skin can cause decreased blood flow, resulting in swelling, redness, and pain around that area.
  • Deep vein thrombosis – This occurs when blood clots in the deep veins of the leg. It increases the risk of pulmonary embolism, where the blood clots break off and get carried to the lungs, resulting in shortness of breath and even death

Untreated varicose veins can cause serious medical complications that include ulcerations (large sores), bleeding, and thrombophlebitis (blood clots), due to the increased pressure and blood pooling in the veins.

Please visit a vein specialist as early as possible for diagnosis and treatment.

There are several minimally invasive treatments for varicose veins, spider veins, and other vein problems, all of which are considered safe, effective, and highly successful with minimal side effects. The typically vein procedure is performed with local anesthetic only and takes less than an hour, so you can drive yourself to and from the appointment.

What to Expect from a Vein Procedure | Vein Treatment Recovery

After your vein procedure, you will have to wear a bandage at least overnight, but you can remove it the following day before resuming normal activities. Most patients report some discomfort for the first 48 hours after treatment, so it’s recommended that you rest during this period.

Expected side Effects

Following the procedure, you will experience some discomfort accompanied by redness, warmth, and inflammation on and around the treated areas. Some patients also report a feeling of tightness along the collapsed or treated vein. Your physician will give you a pain prescription, like 400 mg of ibuprofen that you take every 6-8 hours, or 500 mg of Tylenol that you take every 12 hours.

During the first week after the procedure, you may feel like veins in the treated area are knotting, with blood pooling in the veins and causing the skin to feel warm and tender to the touch. This is normal as blood is redirected to other healthy veins, but you can relieve the discomfort by applying a warm compress and massaging the spot regularly.

It is important that you avoid soaking your body in water, like in a bathtub, or even pool, for the first 10 days after the procedure to reduce the risk of infections in the treated area.

You may also experience some occasional loss of sensation due to nerve irritation during the treatment. This should disappear with time.

7-10 Days Later

Most people should be able to resume their daily activities immediately after the procedure. But if you do a lot of strenuous things, it is best that you wait 7-10 days before engaging in such activities or lifting anything weighing more than 20 pounds.

That said, it is recommended that you engage in low-impact fitness activities, such as walking or using a low setting on the treadmill to facilitate the healing process. But you should avoid all high-impact exercises such as jogging, running, or lower-body weight training.

Months later

People recover differently from varicose vein treatment. Most experience considerable reduction of symptoms after one month, but they may go on for a few more months. You will likely feel fine after 6 months, but considering that venous insufficiency is a chronic condition, you should visit your physician for a follow-up assessment.

It is common knowledge that your dietary choices affect many aspects of your health and general wellbeing. New studies suggest that what you eat also affects the severity of varicose veins symptoms by aggravating the risk factors, interfering with proper blood circulation, or directly impeding blood flow in the veins.

Is Your Diet Causing Varicose Veins? | Vein Specialist in Ventura & LA

The items you eat can either make existing vein problems worse or improve your vascular function and ultimately reduce the severity of varicose veins.

Foods that make varicose veins worse

Considering that being overweight is a risk factor for varicose veins, any foods that cause you to add weight also increase your risk of venous problems. These include:

  • Refined starches
  • Soda and alcohol
  • Dairy products including whole milk
  • High-sugar foods
  • Oily foods

You can avoid weight gain by consuming nutritious foods and counting your daily calorie intake. You should also be careful about consuming foods that increase water retention, because it increases pressure on the veins. This can cause the veins to swell and the valves to get damaged, allowing blood to pool and form varicose veins.

Some of the foods that increase water retention and should be avoided include:

  • Processed meats
  • Canned foods
  • Many types of cheeses
  • Pizza
  • Pickles
  • Other salty foods

In addition, you should avoid foods that increase the risk of constipation, as it makes you more likely to getting hemorrhoids, or swollen veins in the anal canal. This can also cause damage to veins in your lower legs, resulting in the formation of varicose veins. Consider reducing your intake of red meat, chocolate, dairy products, bananas, and refined starches, while increasing your intake of foods rich in fiber, such as legumes, fruits and veggies, whole grains, and drinking lots of water.

Foods that provide relief for varicose veins

Besides avoiding the foods mentioned above, consider increasing your dietary intake of leafy green vegetables; fruits and vegetables rich in anti-inflammatory vitamins C and E; and natural diuretics that help to flush away water, like cucumbers, asparagus, celery, and herbs.

Although maintaining the right diet can reduce the risk for venous problems, varicose veins are largely hereditary, so you cannot prevent them completely. If your varicose veins are painful or a cosmetic concern, please visit a nearby vein specialist for diagnosis and discussion of minimally invasive treatments that can help your case.

Vein disease occur when some of the veins in your legs malfunction and are unable to transport blood from the legs properly. When this happens, blood in the affected blood vessels may begin to pool, resulting in the formation of varicose, reticular, or spider veins. These vein problems are not very serious, but if left untreated, can cause pain, leg fatigue, cramping, skin discoloration, and restlessness.

How Serious Is Vein Disease? | Vein Specialist in Ventura and Los Angeles

In severe cases, untreated venous conditions can lead to very serious complications such as deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, bleeding, and ulcers.

To manage the symptoms of venous disorders, and to keep them from escalating into serious complications, it is important that you visit a vein specialist for proper diagnosis and treatment recommendations.

Some of the risk factors of venous disorders include:

  • Family history of varicose veins
  • Overweight
  • Pregnancy
  • Old age
  • Sedentary lifestyle
  • Resistance training

Through a combination of lifestyle changes, at-home care, and minimally invasive in-office treatment, you can treat venous diseases and prevent other venous problems from arising. In-office treatments include laser ablation, radiofrequency ablation, and sclerotherapy, all of which should only be performed by a skilled physician to avoid complications.

These procedures target and destroy the problematic veins, forcing blood to flow through healthy veins. After treatment, it may be necessary to wear compression stockings to help boost blood flow in your legs and to reduce pain. Increasing your level of activity and shedding weight is also helpful.

How soon can you enjoy the results of the procedure?

The results of most minimally invasive treatments are not instant. It will take a while for inflammation to subside, and the final results of sclerotherapy, ablation, or other treatment won’t be apparent until 2-3 months post-treatment. The marks from the injections should resolve in about 6-8 weeks, but the actual time depends on:

  • Your skin type
  • The types of blood vessels treated
  • The strength of the solution used
  • Your genetic disposition to develop hyper pigmentation

During this time, it is important that you follow Dr. Shah’s aftercare instructions strictly to avoid complications. For instance, any bruising occurring after sclerotherapy may take about 5 weeks to resolve, while staining may take up to 12 months to resolve.