Treatment of Varicose Veins: Here is what you need to know

As curious as a kid, probably you remember staring at a relative’s thick stockings at the dark purple, gnarled blood veins lying under the skin luck dangerous bumpy snakes. This kind of blood vessels is known as varicose veins. If you or your loved one is battling with varicose veins, it is time to consult with a reliable health care organization such as Advanced Vein Therapy or an experienced doctor to determine the most effective varicose vein treatment.

Diagnosis and treatment of varicose veins

If your mother or grandmother battled with varicose veins and probably you thought that the treatment sounds worse than the health condition itself, take heart. Technology is advancing and has brought significant changes in the medical industry. For instance, doctors now use duplex ultrasound to evaluate the circulatory activities on a patient’s leg. That means the health expert can take sharp, two-dimensional image instead of listening to the blood flow using a Doppler device. Therefore, with the current technology, doctors can make an accurate diagnosis of varicose veins.

According to Sandy S. Tsao, one of the instructors of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, duplex ultrasound is a big boom because identifying the exact vein that has been affected can help the medical expert to choose the right treatment approach.

In the old days, a doctor would insert a flexible metal rod into the vein at your groin level, pass it through the blood vein, and take it out the other end where he or she screwed on a metal cap. The doctor then would pull back the rod through the leg, stripping the blood vein out through an incision made on your groin. With the affected vein gone, the deep circulatory veins in your leg would take over, and the varicose vein or wormy mass on your leg would not be visible.

Currently, according to Tsao, stripping isn’t done. The advancements in technology have helped widen the frontiers in the treatment of varicose veins. Now, a doctor can insert a thin catheter into the affected vein, and the lumen (mass inside the vein) can be heated using radio waves. This can help shrink the tough collagen in the vessel, making it collapse and reabsorb.

Lasers can also be used to deliver bursts of concentrated light energy into the affected vein and collapse it. Another newer treatment options include foam sclerotherapy and radiofrequency ablation. Remember, it is recommended to get in touch with your doctor, learn different varicose vein treatment options, and choose the most effective one for your condition.

Prevention

One of the best ways to prevent varicose veins people in your family have been getting them is by not standing for a long time. Other tips to help you prevent this health condition include;

• Avoiding sitting with your legs crossed. Remember, such a sitting position will put too much pressure on your veins.
• When resting, make sure that your legs are elevated.
• In case you are on a long flight, get up and walk for nearly every hour.