The normal function of leg veins - both the deep veins in the leg and the superficial veins - is to carry blood back to the heart. During walking, for instance, the calf muscle acts as a pump, contracting veins [...]
Gravity is the culprit. The distance from the feet to the heart is the furthest blood has to travel in the body. Consequently, if the vein valves fail, those vessels experience a great deal of pressure. The backflow of blood [...]
Conditions contributing to varicose veins include genetics, obesity, pregnancy, hormonal changes at menopause, work or hobbies requiring extended standing, and past vein diseases such as thrombophlebitis (i.e. inflammation of a vein as a blood clot forms.) Women suffer from varicose [...]
Varicose veins may cause legs to ache, feel heavy, and tire easily. Feet and ankles may swell towards day's end, especially in hot weather. Varicose veins may be itchy, and the veins themselves may ache. Leg cramps can be caused [...]
Typical advice for treating varicose veins is summed up by the letters ESES (pronounced SS). It stands for Exercise Stockings Elevation and Still. Exercising, wearing compression hose, elevating and resting the legs will not make the veins go away or [...]
A solution is injected into a vein causing a chemical injury resulting in the vein closing through a scar-like reaction. It is most effective when underlying sources of venous reflux have been treated. Leg wrapping or stockings are used following [...]
We use the only two FDA approved solutions for sclerotherapy, sodium morrhuate and sodium tetradecyl sulfate (sotradecol). Saline has been used in the past for sclerotherapy. It is very painful. It is not more effective than other solutions. Many physicians [...]
Ambulatory phlebectomy is a surgical procedure for treating surface veins in which multiple small incisions are made along a varicose vein and it is "fished out" of the leg using surgical hooks or forceps. The procedure is done under local [...]
When the source of the reverse blood flow was due to damaged valves in the saphenous vein, the vein was removed by a surgical procedure known as vein stripping. Under general anesthesia, all or part of the vein was tied [...]
VNUS Closure is used, instead of vein stripping, to eliminate reverse blood flow in the saphenous vein, but without physically removing the vein, and can be performed in the office with local anesthesia. With Closure, or Radiofrequency Ablation, the vein [...]