Men and women, young and old, with embarrassing varicose veins or blue spider veins on their legs, do what they can to hide them. They wear long pants even when it's hot, and women choose ankle-length dresses to cover them up. Normally, that works just fine. Out of sight, out of mind...except during the warm summer months. It is possible to not have to worry about how your legs look.
I recall a conversation with a patient who told me she hadn't worn shorts or shorter dresses in over 18 years because she was so embarrassed about how her legs looked. She had bulging ropey veins and blue spider veins on her legs and she kept them covered so that people wouldn't stare. She even wore blue jeans when she went swimming. After treatment, she went out and bought a bathing suit. She was so excited! Finally, she felt normal and could confidently wear shorts for the first time since she was in high school.
Her story is not uncommon. Improving a person's self-image and fostering a person's positive psychology are very important to me as a health care provider. And that's why it's so important to me to get the word out that vein treatments will absolutely help in making your legs look normal again. I know first-hand how bad it makes you feel when people stare and point at your legs. In addition to leg pain and ongoing fatigue, I had visible bulging veins in my own legs. I finally learned about venous disease and had my vein condition treated in my twenties.
My personal experience is what inspired me, as a vascular surgeon, to focus my medical practice on helping people with similar problems. Unless you've experienced it, you have no idea how freeing it is to finally look normal and feel better again. It's a very liberating feeling.
Most people with visible signs of a vein condition, varicose veins, and spider veins, also have additional symptoms that they probably didn't realize were related. The presence of a vein condition causes inflammation in the body and triggers the body's inflammation response. The result is leg aching and pain, swelling in the legs, chronic fatigue and poor sleep, leg cramps, restless leg syndrome, itching legs, stinging or burning feet, cold feet, reduced energy, and weight gain.
These symptoms all worsen in the evening and at night and improve in the morning. These symptoms are most often overlooked and disregarded as a "natural part of aging." They're not. They are classic indicators of a vein condition, and they are all treatable.
The good news is that vein treatments work. Better yet is that most insurance plans do cover treatments. Our team can help you find out what your insurance will cover and what the costs will be for your treatment plan.
When is the last time you've worn shorts in the summer or a bathing suit at the beach? 5 years? 10 years or more? Schedule a free vein screening today to get started.
