What Problems Do Varicose Veins Cause?

When we are faced with a medical problem or condition, most people are concerned with how does it make me feel, how does it make me look, and what is it likely going to do with me?

The most common symptoms of Chronic Venous Insufficiency(CVI), is aching, heaviness, fatigue, cramping, itching, swelling, and restless leg.  Each of the above can be given an odds ratio, but I have listed them in descending order of frequency.  All can statistically be related to underlying venous disease.

In terms of visible appearance, the most common signs are spider veins and varicose veins.  As the disease progresses, functional problems due to the inefficiency of the venous circulation occur.  This leads to visible skin changes showing brown, inflamed, and scaly areas about the lower legs and ankles.

Untreated, this condition leads to the formation of ulcers in the same areas.

At any time during the course of the disease, patients are at risk for superficial thrombophlebitis, or an inflammation of the superficial veins, that is painful, debilitating, and can be life-threatening.  In the case of more advanced disease, the risk for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) increases, imparting a greater risk to life and limb.

Most of the factors surrounding the onset and course of CVI, with the exception of age and genetics, are amenable to intervention, and that is what we do at the Morrison Vein Institute.  The effect of this disease on the economy, in terms of time lost from work, and the effect on quality of life is inestimable.

Written by Nick Morrison, MD, FACPh

Posted by Kelly Lorenzen

What causes varicose veins?

The actual cause of varicose veins is inefficient, faulty vein valves. These valves don’t close properly, allowing blood to leak back with gravity and pool in the vein. This causes the veins to bulge and stretch and result in many unpleasant side effects such as aching and throbbing pain, heavy and tired legs, and poor circulation.  Heredity is a primary factor in over 80% of varicose vein cases. Other contributing factors may include pregnancy, obesity, hormone therapy, standing or sitting for long periods of time and injury.

While a diet low in fiber and a sedentary lifestyle are thought to contribute to varicose veins, the condition is far more likely to develop if a person has an underlying predisposition to varicose veins due to heredity.  This is because diet and lack of exercise are thought to be minor factors that are not likely to cause varicose veins on their own.  Similarly, pregnancy, frequent straining to pass stool and heaving lifting are also thought to be minor causative factors for varicose veins.  A combination of minor factors combined with a major factor like heredity, can be responsible.

While you cannot entirely prevent varicose veins, there are quite a few ways to improve your vein health. Physical activity, such as walking, swimming or cycling, is a wonderful way to pump blood up the leg against gravity to improve circulation. Compression hose also helps improve circulation by preventing blood from pooling in the leg veins.

Morrison Vein Institute Patients…

You trust us with your vein care. We’re attracting more patients and earning more business from our current patients like you, because many of you rave about us to their families, friends and business associates. We’re known and admired for our expert, state of the art phlebology services  and time-tested customer service. It succeeds because you trust us to do what’s right for you.

We still focus, as always, on what got us here – building long term relationships with our patients, communities, and our volunteer work with our non-profit organization called Amigos de Salud which has enabled us to care for for over 20,000 patients in 20 years in South America.

Our team works hard to know you, understand your complete vein circulation picture, listen to you, provide you value and reward you for doing even more business with us by finding ways to offer discounts on services, compression stockings and our few select facial cremes. We put you at the center of everything we do.. And we work together to decide locally how we can help support the communities in which you – and we – live and work.

Thank you for entrusting us with your business!

Terri Morrison, RN, BS, CEO