Essential Facts About Varicose Veins: Understanding Their Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments
Ditching Those Unwanted Veggie Legs: All About Varicose and Spider Veins
Summer's here, but showing off your gams isn't always a walk in the park if you're plagued by those unsightly, veiny legs everyone seems to hate. Fret not, for you're not alone in your struggle. According to Dr. Mark Meissner, a surgeon at the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Clinic at UW Medical Center - Montlake, by the age of 70, approximately 60-70% of women will have some varicose veins.
The bad news? There's not much you can do to prevent them.
The good news? Although varicose veins can cause symptoms, serious complications are rare, and there are treatment options up your sleeve.
The Truth About Varicose Veins
Varicose veins, along with their milder cousins, spider veins, are enlarged, twisted veins. Typically found in the legs, they're often the result of gravity pulling blood downward, making it harder for it to flow back up to the heart.
In normal veins, one-way valves help keep blood flowing toward the heart. However, over time, these valves can wear out in people with varicose veins, allowing blood to pool and make the veins distend. This causes them to be raised and visible.
Fortunately, most often, varicose veins don't pose serious health problems.
Varicose Veins vs. Spider Veins: Know the Difference
Spider veins and varicose veins are often lumped together, but there's a distinction between the two.
- Spider veins, named for their weblike appearance, are often red to purple and 1 millimeter in diameter. They're usually asymptomatic but can be a cosmetic concern.
- Varicose veins are slightly larger—greater than 3 millimeters in diameter—and can be skin-toned or blue. Symptoms are usually limited to aching, swelling, and itching, and only a small percentage of people may experience ulcers or sores around the ankle.
Empower Your Battle Against Varicose and Spider Veins
The short answer? No, you can't prevent varicose veins.
Genetics and pregnancy are two major factors influencing your likelihood of developing them. Family history plays a significant role, as does pregnancy, which can worsen varicose veins in predisposed individuals. Even though other risk factors, like birth control and obesity, have been linked to vascular disease, the link to varicose veins is still unclear.
Saying Goodbye to those Annoying Veins
Although varicose veins can be a source of discomfort and embarrassment, at-home treatments such as leg elevation and compression stockings can ease symptoms like aching or swelling. If your pain is severe or if you're concerned about their aesthetic appearance, you have treatment options.
If the veins still cause you distress as you age, despite at-home care or less invasive treatments, it may be time to consult your doctor about surgical procedures like endovenous laser ablation, radiofrequency ablation, sclerotherapy, foam sclerotherapy, ambulatory phlebectomy, or laser therapy.
Considering treatment depends on how much your veins are impacting your quality of life. If they're impairing your ability to live your best life, it's time to have a chat with your doctor.
In summary, compression stockings and in-office procedures primarily offer relief from symptoms rather than prevention. Treatments like sclerotherapy, laser therapy, endovenous laser ablation, and ambulatory phlebectomy address the underlying issue, aiming to eliminate veins and alleviate discomfort.
- News about varicose and spider veins reveals that approximately 60-70% of women over the age of 70 experience these unsightly veins.
- Science explains that varicose and spider veins are enlarged, twisted veins, frequently located in the legs, caused by blood pooling due to gravity.
- Medical-conditions such as varicose veins and spider veins occur when the one-way valves in veins wear out, allowing blood to accumulate and veins to distend.
- Chronic diseases like varicose veins are usually asymptomatic for spider veins but can cause discomfort such as aching, swelling, and itching.
- Cancer and neurological disorders seem to be unrelated to the development of varicose and spider veins.
- Respiratory conditions, digestive health, eye health, hearing, health-and-wellness, fitness-and-exercise, sexual-health, skin care, nutrition, women's health, and cardiovascular health have no significant impact on the appearance of varicose and spider veins.
- Sports might not have a substantial impact on the development of varicose veins, but the link between sports and vein issues is not fully understood.
- Autoimmune disorders may have a minimal role in the development of varicose veins, and the relationship between the two conditions remains unclear.
- Mental-health issues do not appear to be related to the occurrence of varicose and spider veins.
- Mens-health also seems to be unrelated to the development of varicose and spider veins.
- Skin-conditions other than those related to varicose and spider veins, like eczema or acne, do not cause these veins to appear.
