You may long for smooth, beautiful skin across your body, but your visible veins may be keeping you from looking your best. These veins often begin quite small and most often show up initially on your legs.
Many people with varicose veins experience discomfort or pain in their legs as a result of the changes occurring in these blood vessels. For them, the condition could be a sign of more serious complications ahead, and medical intervention becomes necessary rather than elective.
While varicose veins can happen anywhere in the body, they most commonly affect your legs.
Veins, particularly in your legs, have a challenging job, moving blood against the force of gravity back to your heart and lungs for re-oxygenation. To accomplish this, veins have a series of internal valves that open only one way. Blood flows toward the heart, and the valves close to prevent backflow.
When you’re on your feet, standing or walking for long periods of time, pressure on your leg veins increases, and it’s possible that the function of these valves starts to fail. As a result, pooled blood collects, with the veins themselves taking on the gnarled appearance that many people recognize as varicose veins.
Before the blue/purple veins develop, you may first see red spider veins — the same problem, but occurring in smaller blood vessels.
Aside from red, blue, or purple discoloration, the twisted nature of varicose veins can also bulge out, creating ridges or cords along their path. When veins start to cause pain, symptoms can include:
These risk factors can cause or accelerate the development of varicose veins:
The majority of varicose vein sufferers are women who have had one or more pregnancies.
If others in your family have the condition, you’re more likely to develop it too.
If your job requires you to be on your feet or sitting for extended times, you may be more likely to develop varicose veins
As vein tissue ages, it becomes more susceptible to vein valve failure.
Higher body mass index (BMI) causes blood flow complications, and the added pressure on your leg veins may accelerate varicosities.
If you’re bothered by the appearance of varicose veins but have no other symptoms, you can pursue cosmetic treatment. There are a variety of approaches that remove varicose veins and encourage natural re-vascularization of your legs.
When pain or other symptoms become a problem, medical treatment is more urgent to prevent complications such as ulcers.
In either case, The Vein Center is your smart choice for treatment. Dr. Wieters can examine your varicose vein condition and recommend treatment that’s appropriate for you. Call the office or use the convenient online booking tool to schedule your consultation today.
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You may long for smooth, beautiful skin across your body, but your visible veins may be keeping you from looking your best. These veins often begin quite small and most often show up initially on your legs.
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Before diagnosing any type of venous insufficiency, our doctor at The Vein Center will make sure to take your medical history and give you an exam. You may also have an imaging test done that looks at blood flow and the structure of your leg veins.
As we age, our bodies change. It’s inevitable. Still, most of us do whatever we can to maintain a youthful appearance. We exercise, eat healthy and stay mentally active. Despite your best efforts, you may still develop spider veins.
Are there tiny, thread-like veins on your skin? If so, these veins may be weak capillaries, and The Vein Center in Mount Pleasant, SC has multiple treatment options to help remove them.
Venous insufficiency is a chronic condition in which blood pools in the legs instead of flowing back to the heart, leading to varicose veins and other complications.