Varicose Veins

[misstraci]

Does anyone have varicose veins? Are they harmful or indicate other illness?

I just recently noticed these and googled it and it says a blood clot disorder may cause this. I was just curious what others thought.

Thanks

[comfortzone]

Varicose veins most often are a congenital defect in the valves of your veins... Other things can contribute to them or 'cause' them such as pregnancy or careers where you are standing a long part of the day and simply being obese - these things increase pressure in the abdomen - which increases pressure in the leg veins...

So the blood gets returned to your heart well enough - but then slides right back down again - the valves are incompetent as they say - and then that creates a lot of pressure in your legs/ankles... After not treating them for years - the color of you skin can change, you can get thick twisted ropes of veins that raise well above the skin's surface... Your skin gets 'itchy' - these are precursers to ulceration of your skin. The skin ulcers are a bear with a lot of pain. Your ankles can be filled with spider veins and a dusky bluish color.

Thrombophlebitis is when there is inflammation of a vein that is caused by a blood clot - that's why people are recommended to stretch out when on long plane rides, where loose waistbands if possible - exercise the legs to keep the blood from pooling in the veins which is venous stasis ... this is why you are made to wear anti-embolism stockings right after surgeries that have you in bed afterward... and also why you need to walk right after even major surgeries if the doctor orders you to do so... Need to keep that blood returning up to the heart .... If you stayed in bed - you could be setting yourself up for a clot to form in the vein... on a plane with tight sox and a tight waistband - these things could behave as a tourniquet of sorts - increasing the pressure in the leg vein and the pooling - setting yourself up for a possible clot. Blood thinners are used with thrombophlebitis to help reduce the chance of any new clots forming.

Conservative treatment would be to attain a normal weight and wear compression hose (as long as they don't make matters worse with the 'band' sometimes tourniqueting your leg) - well fitting hose are the first line of defense against worsening veins... Testing for the health of the veins is done by ultrasound. Very quick and simple - you can see blood and how it travels - a cross section of vein - and whether it pools and stays where it shouldn't or if the blood travels normally in healthy veins back to the heart.

One procedure nowadays used to treat severe cases is endovascular ablation - or laser surgery... A thin catheter is inserted into the vein and laser applied as the catheter is withdrawn - destroying the vessel - often the saphenous vein. The doctor can also remove some veins if needed and treat others - all in one procedure. Risks would be probably clotting or bleeding out - so there is some risk - but most patients I'm told do fine. It is required you wear thigh-high compression hose afterward - on most all days of the year. Anti-inflammatories are prescribed post procedure to help in the healing.

Some patients report they feel wonderful after things have healed - like they have a lot of bounce and energy in their fixed leg. Swollen veins can have you feel it's hard to even move the legs at all.. people then cannot wait until the time to get the second leg done to have that good feeling in both! It is an expensive procedure at about 4K per leg.

Medicare will not usually pay unless conservative treatment has failed and you have had serious consequences such as bleeding from the veins and needing transfusion etc... Many people seek treatment less for the pain and discomfort of the veins in advanced stages as to have their legs look better - and of course most insurances will not pay for a cosmetic procedure.

There are other therapies to treat them as well such as sclerotherapy where a solution is injected into the vein causing it to die --- it has risks of skin sloughing and other unpleasantness - but again many people with less troubling cases have used it for cosmetic reasons and it works - however some end up with dark brownish outlines on their legs (from the iron) where the vein used to be.

It's just genetic for many people - and with Ehlers Danlos - many have a disposition toward weak or faulty collagen so I'd think there might be more risk of having the perhaps?

Lastly there is some discussion of patients with OI - benefitting from the procedure -- not sure how solid that is - but a doctor I know told me this - that a patient had blood pressure issues that cleared post procedure... to me it sounds kind of sketchy so gave it the big "whatever" ...

[misstraci]

nowwhat..... thank you so much!!! that was a lot of informative information. thanks for typing all of that. one of the procedures you mentioned, i can't believe it cost 4k per leg, my goodness. I'm not sure if mine are genetic or not, they are more than likely from this last pregnancy that wrecked havoc on my body. I'll keep wearing my compression stockings and I stretch well, so, I'll keep that up too. Was just curious about them because I had never asked a doctor, I never really realized how bad mine were.

I appreciate your time, thank.

Traci

[heissovereign]

I have them as well and have had them for many years. Pregnancy made them worst and now they are so so itchy.. I have them from the waist down .. mine I believe came from my working, I used to drive a stand up forklift (cherry picker) 12-16 hrs a day. Constantly on my feet, well except when I fainted. I had test done to look for dvt but I just have cvi.

[issie]

I had leg vein surgery when I was only 26 years old. Very bad varicose veins. I do have EDS and that is one of the issues with this. I had branches of veins taken out - not a vein stripping and then had the sclerosing therapy done. It was one of the best things I've ever done for myself. Since it was a medical issue for the surgery and not just vanity, my insurance did pay for it. It wasn't that painful of a surgery to have and I would do it again, if needed. The sclerosing therapy was rather painful, but the results were good. You just have to make sure you get and keep your weight down or those small spider type veins come back.

[misstraci]

heis.... those were long work days, my goodness. What does cvi mean?

issie.... what exactly is the sclerosing therapy? I'm glad it all worked out for you!

Thanks

[heissovereign]

I know I was a teen trying to look grown, I wanted to prove I could be responsible. Which I was, I was a team leader moving up to supervisor about age 17. But had I known then that I was making things worst for myself I wouldn't have done it. And cvi is chronic venous insufficiency.

[issie]

Sclerosing thereapy is where they take a very small needle and inject small amounts of saline many times into spider veins and other veins to cause them to collaspe. Then they put compression on them and you keep your legs up for awhile/days and the small veins are gone. It's pretty painful because there are hundreds of needle pricks and the saline burns and stings. But, it was worth it.