Relieving painful leg veins without surgery

Unsightly large, bulging veins in the legs known as varicose veins, affect up to 35% of people in the United States and can occur in almost anyone. These swollen, twisted veins can be seen just below the skin surface, not only making legs look unattractive, but also can cause mild to moderate pain along with other concerns. 

Most people with varicose veins would like to have them fixed but may hesitate seeking treatment if they believe surgery is their only option.  The thought of having surgery to remove the veins may sound unappealing, especially if a friend or relative had a bad experience with varicose vein surgery.

Fortunately, treatment options for varicose veins no longer rely on surgery alone; today there are safe, effective minimally invasive treatments for reducing varicose veins that do not involve surgery.

The cause of varicose veins and what makes them painful

The veins in our legs work along with our leg muscles to send blood back to the heart.  Tiny valves normally keep the force of gravity from pulling blood back toward the feet but if there is an abnormality or weakness in the walls of the veins, then this prevents blood from moving normally like it should.

There are two major types of blood vessels in the body – arteries and veins.  Arteries carry blood from the heart and veins are the blood vessels that carry blood back to the heart.  Inside the veins are valves that open and close to help propel blood to flow back towards the heart. When these valves fail or become weak, they do not open and close normally.  This dysfunction allows blood that is intended to flow back towards the heart, to instead flow backward and pool, particularly in the lower extremities of the legs.  This backflow and pooling of blood can result in the formation of painful veins in the legs or varicose veins. 

There can be many reasons why some people develop varicose veins:

·      Hereditary – they tend to run in families with women developing them more often than men.

·      Pregnancy and menopause – Hormonal changes during these times can bring about varicose veins.

·      Prolonged standing

·      Lack of physical activity

·      Obesity

·      Smoking

·      Frequent crossing of legs cutting off circulation

Of course there is the concern of varicose veins making legs look unattractive but a bigger concern has to do with the pain and other issues they can cause:

·      Swelling

·      Throbbing or burning in the legs

·      Changes in the skin, such as hardening or a change in color’

·      Itching

·      Sores that take a long time to get better

·      Bleeding that is hard to stop when you get a cut on your legs around the veins

·      Blood clots

What you can do to reduce your risk

·      Elevate your legs – Each day, take time to lie down on a couch or on the floor with your legs elevated about your heart.  Do this as frequently as you can throughout the day for a minimum of 10 minutes each time.

·      Wear support stockings – Available at surgical supply stores, support stockings can help improve blood flow and symptoms associated with varicose veins.  Wear them as frequently as possible putting them on in the morning and taking them off at night before going to bed.

·      Keep physically active – Do activities to improve circulation – walking, swimming, or bicycling.  These activities do not put too much pressure on the legs like more strenuous movements of jumping, or training with heavy weights.

·      Avoid prolonged standing or sitting – Throughout the day, get up and walk around to keep blood from pooling in your legs.

·      Do heel rises – Stand flat-footed and rise up onto the balls of your feet.  Briefly hold the position and then lower your feet.  Doing this movement helps pump blood back from the calf muscle to the heart.  Repeat the heel rises 10 to 20 times.

·      Lose weight if overweight to obese.  Gaining weight can cause new veins to appear due to the added pressure of excess weight.

·      Don’t smoke.

Treating painful veins without surgery

At one time, the main way of treating varicose veins was with surgery that involves tying off the veins and stripping them, or pulling them out.

For some people, surgery may be an option but the recovery can be long and painful, and about half the time the veins eventually come back.  Today, there are minimally invasive techniques to treat varicose veins which can be performed several times without any surgery.  A doctor will need to evaluate each individual as to whether minimally invasive techniques are a good match.  During a consultation, a person’s medical history, medications, supplements, and allergies will be reviewed to determine if they are a good candidate for any of these procedure for the treatment of varicose veins. 

These treatments include the following:

·      Endovenous ablation – Using a fiber laser or radiofrequency waves, the inside of the varicose vein is treated during this procedure.  The treated varicose veins should disappear.

·      Microphlebectomy – Also known as ambulatory phlebectomy, small nicks are made around the veins and a special tool is used to pull the varicose veins out.  This is often done along with endovenous ablation as part of an overall plan for treating varicose veins. 

·      Sclerotherapy – A chemical is injected into the small superficial veins which blocks them off.  This is often a good treatment option for spider veins, which are smaller varicose veins and a cosmetic problem, but it does not work for larger veins.