Varicose veins affect about 40 million adults in the United States. They can bring leg aches, heaviness, throbbing, burning, cramping, and pain. The good news? You don’t have to live with bothersome varicose vein symptoms: Simple solutions can relieve your leg discomfort.
With three offices in Tampa and Lutz, Florida, Muthu Velusamy, MD, FACC, ABVM, and our expert team at Cardiovascular Institute of America can help you eliminate varicose veins and get back to your active, pain-free life.
Many people, especially women, develop varicose veins during their lifetime. Risk factors include:
While adopting healthy lifestyle habits — including exercise, wholesome eating, and smoking cessation — may reduce the risk of varicose and spider veins, they can still appear.
The following can often help relieve pain caused by stubborn varicose veins:
Wearing compression stockings as directed by Dr. Velusamy can compress the affected veins to improve blood flow and reduce discomfort.
Consider elevating your legs above your waist several times daily to boost circulation and decrease vein pressure.
Dr. Velusamy offers minimally invasive laser and radiofrequency treatments (endovenous ablation) using a catheter (thin tube) to deliver heat to the affected veins, causing them to collapse and seal closed.
Sclerotherapy is a highly effective treatment in which Dr. Velusamy injects a specialized solution into a painful varicose vein. This causes its walls to stick together and the vein to disappear over time.
Dr. Velusamy can also remove a painful varicose vein during a minor surgical procedure to ease your discomfort. This option is usually reserved for severe varicosities or especially stubborn cases that haven’t responded fully to minimally invasive treatments like sclerotherapy.
There are several things you can do at home to relieve varicose vein pain and prevent additional vein damage from occurring, including staying active, raising your legs when lying or sitting down, eating nutritious foods, and maintaining a healthy body weight.
Consider wearing comfortable shoes (avoid high heels) and steer clear of tight clothes that reduce blood flow. Avoid standing or sitting for long periods by changing positions often, and ice painful areas as needed to minimize varicose vein swelling and discomfort.
Limiting your sodium intake is beneficial for vein health as well as your general cardiovascular health. It can help reduce swelling and pressure on veins caused by your body holding excess water.
Eliminate varicose vein pain once and for all by scheduling an evaluation with Dr. Velusamy at Cardiovascular Institute of America at one of our Tampa-area locations: We have one office in Lutz and two in Tampa, Florida. Contact us by phone or book an appointment online today.
