At Inovia Vein in the Portland, Oregon, metro area we can help you address your varicose and spider vein care needs. Our Portland clinics are part of a group of the only specialized vein clinics in Oregon and Southwest Washington. We have clinics in Northwest Portland, Tigard, Happy Valley, Tanasbourne Oregon or Vancouver Washington.
What follows are very common questions we hear when helping patients through their vein care journey.
What Causes Varicose Veins?
Everyone has veins to carry blood back to the heart. When they have healthy veins, there are no varicose veins seen. Varicose veins occur when the one way valves in the leg veins become weak or damaged. This can be a result of injury (like a broken leg or getting hit with a fast ball in the calf), a result of some form of coagulation or blood clotting disorder, or most cases it is just genetic (which is why we often see this runs in families). Once the valves become damaged the blood flow can pool and pressure builds in the lower leg veins. When this happens the blood pressure in the damaged vein goes up and the veins start to stretch and bulge out becoming varicose veins or spider veins.
Why Do Varicose Veins Hurt Sometimes?
The reason diseased vein such as varicose veins and spider veins can hurt is because of tissue stretch and inflammation. Any tissue in the body that stretches can hurt. This is because there are stretch receptors in tissues that signal pain when they are activated. With time fluid pressured within the veins weeps into the surrounding tissues. This is why varicose veins can lead to leg swelling, especially around the ankles and below the knees. This can be so severe in some cases, it can be difficult for some to put their shoes on. This is especially evident after long periods of standing. The swelling and discomfort from varicose veins tends to get worse as the day goes on, and better at night.
What is the First Sign of Varicose Veins?
Over time we see varicose veins and spider veins appear on the legs, usually starting below the knee on the inside of the calf, and eventually working their way over the foot and up the thigh. With time the patient sees broken capillaries by the foot and the foot skin can appear discolored. When a patient develops new varicose veins is known as chronic venous insufficiency. This can cause leg pain as your body tells you something is wrong. In some patients it is worse if there calf muscles are impaired. Patients with an underlying issue such as blood clotting issues or a family history can have special considerations we can discuss in their consultation at the vein clinic.
Are Varicose Veins a Health Problem?
Varicose veins can represent a health issue in some people. Left untreated this medical condition can lead to an inflammatory response to the vein and skin stretching in the lower legs, which is why the achy veins can appear red and feel warm and tender.
At times the veins can clot, known as superficial vein thrombophlebitis. this is essentially a blood clots in the varicose veins. This happens from long term stretch of the vein walls that eventually leads to clotting. This can progress to deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism and requires medical evaluation and treatment.
Over time the swelling and skin stretching can cause scarring of the skin, leading to a brown hard area above the ankles from pooling blood (known as lipodermatosclerosis). Some patients, wounds can open around the ankle (known as venous stasis ulcers). Sometimes these skin ulcers become infected. Once patients see redness, swelling, skin irritation or wounds that do not heal they should seek medical attention to consider a treatment procedure at a vein clinic as many of these complications of venous insufficiency can be treated with a procedure or procedures with great relief. For those looking for a Portland Clinic consultation today, we can help.
What Can You Do?
For starters, many patients with mild symptoms of swelling and ache find elevating their legs helps. This lessens the pressure in the veins and thus the stretch comes out of them. This also reverses the pressure gradient that leads to swelling, and fluid can return from the ankle tissues to the capillaries and back to the circulation. This is why in most vein patients, swelling goes away at night. But the next day, however, the swelling returns. During the day, a strategy of graded compression hose can help. Graded compression hose are tighter than traditional socks, and serve to put pressure on the skin and bulging veins, helping prevent swelling and the pain from the stretch of the tissue. They are generally only needed during the day. For patients with skin irritation and redness or itching, compression can help, but also a dermatological care strategy can also contribute to relief with various topical medications to treat these symptoms. Other factors such as hormonal changes can be important to discuss. Thus it is important to discuss your medical history in your consultation.
How Does Treatment Work?
There are a variety of varicose vein treatment options where we can treat a varicose vein in the office with no down time procedures. In most cases where the symptoms are advanced, the saphenous veins are the culprit. The great saphenous vein (GSV,), Anterior Saphenous Vein (ASV) and small saphenous vein (SSV) run under the skin and are responsible for the vein return from the skin and underlying tissue. When the valves are bad, the veins dilate and stop working, leading to venous insufficiency and varicose veins as blood pools in the lower legs under pressure.
In the past this was treated with open surgery or vein stripping at the hospital. There now are numerous minimally invasive vein treatment options with interventions like endovenous ablation of the greater saphenous vein with methods such as ClosureFast RFA , VenaSeal, and Varithena Endovenous Microfoam. These are alternatives ways to treat varicose veins such as laser treatments. All of these minimally invasive treatments are performed in our vein center.
Additionally, there are sclerotherapy treatment options for the smaller surface veins such as spider veins. These other veins are known as branch tributary veins. This is a technique that uses a tiny needle to inject veins and cause the body to reabsorb them. Most of these treatments can help reduce the pain and swelling from varicose veins significantly. We use ultrasound to guide our treatment, so no need for traditional X-rays with radiation. This can help us see past the larger varicose veins to the smaller varicose veins under the skin. With this map we can discuss a way to treat varicose veins by addressing the venous disease under the skin as well as the unsightly veins that you can see. After treatment the body absorbs the treated veins.
Where are These Procedures Performed?
These procedures can be done in our office vein clinic with a local anesthetic with little or no downtime. That means no need to go to the hospital for a general anesthesia. Patients walk in, have their treatments in less than an hour, then walk out. Most people can go back to work or normal activities the next day.
How to Start Your Vein Treatment Journey
At the Inovia Vein Specialty Clinic in the Portland metro area, you can set up an initial consultation and we can assess your varicose veins and recommend the optimal treatment for your needs. This starts off with a first visit where we listen to you about your concerns and symptoms, and help map out a treatment plan to diagnose and treat your issues. Sometimes we start out with compression stockings. This can help reduce the symptoms of ache and edema. Then we can obtain a venous ultrasound and map out the sources of the problem in the office. When indicated, we can suggest office based treatment procedure options.
Generally, an insurance company will approve treatment when the patient has symptoms of swelling, ache, skin irritation and wounds the treatments are covered. For patients where insurance coverage is not offered by their insurance companies, we can help quote patient pay options to facilitate treatment.
If you are in need of a advice or looking for a Portland varicose vein treatment, set up your consultation at our vein clinic today. We can advise you on minimally invasive vein clinic based medical procedure with minimal discomfort to suit your needs. Start your journey to pain relief now.
Make An Appointment With Our Vein Specialists To Assess Your leg Cramps
Making and appointment is easy: Simply fill out our Online Vein Screening Form or call any of our clinics in Northwest Portland, Tigard, Happy Valley, Tanasbourne or Bend, Oregon or Vancouver Washington.
