Varicose veins are the bulging, twisting, purplish cords that appear on the legs anywhere from the groin to the ankle.
Within your circulatory system, arteries carry blood away from your heart to all parts of your body, then veins carry the de-oxygenated blood back to your heart. The veins in your legs have to work hard against gravity to get the blood back to your heart using one-way valves to prevent the blood from flowing the wrong way.
Varicose veins form when the veins closest to the skin become elastic and the valves weaken and become unable to completely close, resulting in venous insufficiency. This allows blood flow to reverse direction, a condition called venous reflux. Blood then collects in the lower leg veins causing them to become enlarged and swollen, or varicose.
What are the risk factors?
There are several factors that lead to varicose veins, including:
Heredity – If you have other family members with varicose veins, there is a greater chance you will get them, too.
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Gender – Women are more likely than men to develop the condition. Female hormones tend to relax vein walls making them more elastic and susceptible to venous reflux. Pregnancy plays a big role in developing varicose veins, and taking hormone replacement therapy or birth control pills could increase your risk for them as well.
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Weight – Being overweight puts added pressure on your veins.
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Extended periods of sitting or standing – Your blood doesn’t flow as well if you remain in the same position for prolonged periods of time.
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What are the symptoms? Return to top
In addition to the visual signs of varicose veins, people affected may notice these signs in their legs:
Pain, an aching or cramping feeling, or burning or tingling sensations, which are usually worse at the end of the day.
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Fatigued, tired, or heavy feeling legs
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Itching around one or more of your veins
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Skin ulcers near your ankle, which are the sign of a severe form of vascular disease and require immediate attention
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Can there be complications from varicose veins? Return to top
Many people choose to have their varicose veins treated for cosmetic reasons. The veins are simply unattractive and are likely to become larger over time. If left untreated, varicose veins can also lead to other health problems. In some people, painful venous ulcers form on the skin near varicose veins, particularly near the ankles. These ulcers are caused by increased fluid in the skin that results from venous insufficiency (blood pressure within the affected vein) and require urgent medical attention.
Other complications from varicose veins include lower-extremity swelling, eczema, hemorrhage, and superficial blood clots (thrombophlebitis).
What are the treatments? Return to top
Physicians generally begin treating varicose veins and their symptoms with methods that don’t involve surgery, including preventive techniques, such as:
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Exercising regularly (walking is ideal) |
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Controlling your weight |
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Avoiding sitting or standing for long periods of time |
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Special compression stockings that help squeeze the veins and stop the blood from flowing backwards. |
In the past, cases that showed no improvement required traditional surgery to tie off and remove the abnormal veins. Vein-stripping surgery usually required a general anesthesia at a hospital or clinic. Vein stripping was painful and required weeks of recovery time.
Isn’t there an alternative to surgery? Return to top
Yes! The Vein and Laser Center of Northern Colorado is pleased to offer an effective, minimally invasive, less painful alternative to surgery to treat varicose veins called Endovenous Laser Treatment, or EVLT®.
Find out more.
They get their name because of their look – they resemble spider webs or tree branches with short, jagged lines. Spider veins are found on the legs and the face and can span a very small or large area of the skin.
Spider veins are caused by the same back-up of blood as varicose veins. Heredity, hormone changes, trauma to the skin, and sun exposure can also contribute to the development of spider veins.
The primary treatment for spider veins is called sclerotherapy. With this treatment, the doctor injects a chemical into the vein that irritates the walls of the vein, causing the vein walls to scar from the inside out. Within a few months, the treated vein’s color fades and the vein becomes nearly imperceptible against the background of normal skin, although it may require more than one treatment to achieve the desired results.
