Thinking About Treating Your Varicose Veins? Don’t Make These Four Logic Mistakes!

Why delay varicose vein treatment when so many methods can relieve your pain and swelling?

In the United States, there are about 300,000 new cases of chronic venous insufficiency every year. Up to 40 percent of adults have some sort of venous insufficiency or varicose veins. But not everyone seeks treatment or embarks on the right path to pain-free legs!

Did you know that by avoiding therapy for your swollen veins, you may be setting yourself up for complications down the road? Let’s look at several common mistakes when considering vein care that may prevent you from successfully treating your varicose veins.

Four common mistakes in reasoning about treating varicose veins

Learn about these common misconceptions about why you’re putting off treatment or not receiving the right therapy for your varicose veins.

Mistake #1: Varicose veins are no big deal. Suppose your varicose veins don't display noticeable symptoms such as pain and cramping. In that case, it's easy to downplay the significance of vein disease. Or perhaps you’ve decided you can tolerate and live with the discomfort of varicose veins. However, varicose veins are a big deal. Swollen veins indicate a problem with your circulation. Ignoring the pain (or seeking easy miracle cures) won’t make varicose veins go away. Only medical treatment by a vein specialist can eliminate your vein disease.

Mistake #2: Choosing older varicose vein treatments. Varicose vein treatments have evolved significantly over the years. Gone are the days of invasive vein stripping and ligation that required general anesthesia, several days in the hospital, and weeks of recovery.

During a brief outpatient visit, today’s minimally-invasive procedures can eliminate the varicose vein. After these procedures, you can immediately return to your routine with few restrictions and side effects. Treatment options include thermal ablation and ambulatory phlebectomy.

Mistake #3: Varicose vein treatment can wait. Delaying treatment for any medical condition will only worsen, which is also true for varicose veins. Without treatment, the pain and swelling will increase over time. Dangerous complications can also develop. You may notice discolorations or ulcers on the skin around the varicose veins. These sores are difficult to treat and can become infected. Varicose veins are also linked to deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or a blood clot deep in the leg veins. A clot that breaks loose and travels to the lungs can cause a potentially life-threatening pulmonary embolism.

Mistake #4: Treating large varicose veins with sclerotherapy. Vein specialists recommend sclerotherapy for eliminating spider veins and smaller varicose veins. Your doctor will inject a sclerosant into the vein to collapse it so that it eventually fades. If you have larger varicose veins, your doctor may recommend laser or radiofrequency ablation. The procedure destroys the vein using heat. Like sclerotherapy, these methods require only minimal local anesthesia.

Because venous insufficiency is a progressive disease, you may need more than one session to eliminate the protruding veins, especially if you have large varicose veins. But it will be worth it to have smoother, pain-free legs.

Don’t delay in treating your varicose veins

Are you tired of the pain and embarrassment of varicose veins? If you live in New Hampshire, treatment has never been more convenient! We offer expert vein care at two Center for Vein Restoration (CVR) locations in Salem, New Hampshire, and Nashua, New Hampshire.

Normand Miller, MD, FACS, RPVI, RVT, an experienced board-certified vascular surgeon specializing in vascular disease and venous insufficiency, leads both offices. Dr. Miller can expertly diagnose your varicose veins and tailor a treatment plan to fit your needs and lifestyle.

Visit us to learn more or schedule an appointment online!

410 Amherst Street, Suite 200

Nashua, NH 03063

224 Main Street, Suite 1-D

Salem, NH 03079