When to Consider Treatment for Varicose Veins

About one in five adults in the United States have, or will develop, the bulging, contorted leg veins known as varicose veins. Varicose veins aren’t just unsightly, they’re dysfunctional. 

Dr. Muthu Velusamy, our vein specialist at Cardiovascular Institute of America, can help you feel more comfortable with your varicose veins or remove them completely. He offers the latest minimally invasive varicose vein treatments to help you look and feel better. Here’s why.

Varicose veins are just plain broken

Varicose veins are veins that can’t do their job well anymore. A healthy vein pushes deoxygenated blood upward toward your heart, so it can be filled with oxygen. The oxygenated blood then gets circulated to your organs through your arteries.

The blood flow in veins works against gravity. Healthy veins prevent backflow with a series of valves that shut after your blood pulses forward. This keeps your blood flowing upward, without any retrograde flow.

If you have varicose veins, though, those valves don’t work anymore. Instead of flowing upward steadily, the blood flows backward, pooling behind the broken valve. The portion of the vein behind the valve becomes overfilled with blood, which is why varicose veins get so bulky and twisted looking.

When should you consider removing your varicose veins? The short answer is, any time you have them. Following are two other answers.

They bother you … physically

Because varicose veins impede the healthy flow of blood back toward your heart, as time goes by you may develop symptoms related to poor blood flow in your legs. 

Symptoms related to varicose veins include legs that feel:

• Tired 
• Achy
• Itchy
• Crampy
• Burning 
• Throbbing
• Painful

You might also notice that your leg skin changes color or texture. Eventually, you could develop painful skin ulcers on your legs.

Taking out varicose veins improves your circulation. Once the deformed, dysfunctional veins are gone, your blood immediately reroutes itself to flow through veins that are still healthy.

They bother you … aesthetically

You don’t have to wait until your legs hurt when you walk or your skin breaks into ulcers. If you don’t like the look of your varicose veins right now, you shouldn’t think twice about removing them. They’re not healthy veins, and they aren’t doing you any good.

When we remove your varicose veins, we help preserve the health of your circulation in your legs. You’ll also appreciate the restored attractiveness of your leg and skin, too. Without varicose veins, all of your summer outfits look better. 

Dr. Velusamy may recommend one of several treatments for your varicose veins, including:

• Sclerotherapy injections
• Radiofrequency ablation 
• Laser ablation

To find out which type of varicose vein removal is best for you, contact us today at one of our offices in Tampa or Lutz, Florida. You can also book online using our convenient form.