Varicose Veins
Overview
What’s the definition of varicose veins?
What’s the root cause of varicose veins?
Healthy leg veins are supposed to carry deoxygenated blood from the legs to the heart, moving against the force of gravity. All leg veins contain flap-like mechanisms known as vein valves — these valves act as one-way doors, allowing blood to flow towards the heart but not backward. When your vein valves collapse or malfunction due to various factors, blood flows backward and eventually pools in the leg veins. Over time, blood continues accumulating and adding pressure to the superficial leg veins, making them swell, dilate, and eventually bulge out in the form of varicose veins.
What are the risk factors for varicose veins?
Old age is another prominent risk factor for varicose veins because your vein valves grow weaker with time. If you’re over 50, you are far more likely to get varicose veins than younger men.
Women are more likely to get varicose veins than men because they have higher estrogen levels, which is one of the risk factors for varicose veins. Higher estrogen levels lead to a higher risk of vein disease. If you’re post-menopausal, pregnant, or have undergone multiple pregnancies, you have an even higher risk of varicose veins.
If you’re a teacher, nurse, driver, or someone with a desk job, you are more likely to get varicose veins because blood can accumulate in your leg veins when you sit or stand still for long periods of time.
Other risk factors for varicose veins include obesity, a history of blood clots, and undergoing hormone therapy.
Are there any symptoms of varicose veins?
You can identify the early signs of vein disease as spider veins, leg heaviness, throbbing leg veins, frequent leg cramps, restless leg syndrome, swollen ankles and legs, hard and fatty deposits (lіроdеrmаtоѕсlеrоѕіѕ) under your skin, and more.
If left untreated, venous insufficiency progresses rapidly, eventually leading to skin discoloration near the calves, ankles, and shin, venous eczema (stasis dermatitis), and non-healing wounds (ulceration).
What are the best varicose vein treatments in California?
You can, however, engage in physical exercises (swimming, running, and cycling) to encourage blood circulation to the heart, elevate your legs while sitting, and wear a compression stocking. These lifestyle changes will make the accumulated blood flow towards the heart, reducing some of the symptoms of vein disease. But they don’t treat vein disease or varicose veins.
The best varicose vein treatments in California include radiofrequency ablation and sclerotherapy. Radiofrequency ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that destroys the abnormal leg veins, restoring effective blood circulation. And sclerotherapy is a procedure wherein a special foam or liquid solution is injected into the diseased veins to seal their vessels.
Vascular surgery, also known as ambulatory phlebectomy, is another option. It involves the physical removal of varicose veins through small incisions on your skin. Please talk to our talented vein experts in California to learn about all your vein treatment options.