For anyone who has not suffered from venous disease or know anyone who has, it should be explained. When it happens, the blood cannot carry on its set route around the body and starts to get blocked in certain areas; usually meaning that varicose vein treatment San Diego is needed. At school, you should learn about the circulatory system and how blood reaches all parts of the body. It leaves the heart and starts the descent down to the feet before coming back up again. All veins have valves in them that make sure that only the right amount of blood can be in a vein at the one time.
When the valves become damaged – due to reasons that will be explained later – they do not work correctly. This means that the blood struggles to get back to the heart and ends up stuck in places where it should not be. When you notice this happening to you, you need to speak to a vein specialist San Diego. When this happens, varicose veins and spider veins start to appear, mainly on the legs and the face, and while there may not be too many symptoms at first, as the condition advances, they will begin to show. They can include: –
- Swollen and unsightly veins normally in the legs. They appear to be very close to the surface and could feel as if they are going to come through the skin. Varicose vein treatment San Diego will put a stop to this.
- Burning – This will often be accompanied by swelling and when the blood cannot go the way it wants to it will end up falling down to the feet.
- Ulcers – These will not happen right away, but when the blood has dropped for a while, they are likely to appear and will require varicose vein treatment San Diego.
- Sleeplessness – Sleep will be difficult, and this is obviously going to affect your day to day life.
- Pain – This can be dealt with to a degree with over the counter painkillers but when they are more severe, further treatments have to be considered. You must tell the vein specialist San Diego when there is pain and how serious it is.
When you have had these symptoms for a while you will want to have some relief from them. There are certain things that you can do yourself but when they do not work, you have to think about getting varicose vein treatment San Diego.
Before this veins treatment is considered you will be advised of certain things that you can do to help yourself. This is going to include things such as compression stocking, losing weight, resting your legs and elevating them as well as limiting the amount of time you spend either on your feet or seated.
If you have spider veins it will still be an issue but fortunately not quite as bad and not such a concern for a doctor providing varicose vein treatment San Diego. They are a lot smaller and as the name suggests, resemble a spider’s web when they link up. They are going to be less noticeable and cause a lot less issues. Most of the time there will not be the need to have them treated unless you really want them to be gone. This is going to have to be at your own expense as there will not be the chance to have a doctor’s note to say that they are a big problem and need to be treated. You can still see a vein specialist San Diego and see what payment options they have.
Causes of Varicose Veins and Spider Veins
There are many reasons that you can get varicose veins that require varicose vein treatment San Diego, and in some cases, they are reasons within your control, but unfortunately some are beyond your control. They can include: –
- Gender – Unfortunately for women they tend to suffer more than men. There are some reasons that can partly explain this, pregnancy, weight etc, but it goes deeper than that. A vein specialist San Diego will sympathize but will not be able to change the fact and save you from getting more varicose veins in the future.
- Weight –This is going to be a problem and the heavier you are, the more of a risk you will have. If you manage to lose some you can prevent further damage, but it is unlikely that you will be able to rectify the damage that has already been done.
- Pregnancy –It won’t often be the first or second that are a problem but when there are three or more, there can be pressure and it will be hard to stop it.
- Standing too much –Some jobs mean that you have to be standing for a lot of the time and there is not always the option to do anything about it. Varicose vein treatment San Diego should be able to help at all times.
- Sitting –The same can apply to a job where you have to sit a lot. In both cases, take every opportunity to change what you are doing and try to relieve the pressure that is being put on the valves.
Treatment from a Vein Specialist San Diego
Once it has been decided that there is a problem and it needs to be dealt with there are a number of options. When visiting the vein specialist San Diego, they should carry out a thorough examination and ask you a lot about your medical history. This way they will know what it will be best to do and advise you of things that you can do yourself in the meantime.
Due to the amount of research of many doctors such as Dr. Guthrie, there are plenty of options to choose from and there has never been a better time to get varicose vein treatment San Diego.
Trained in Harvard, Dr Guthrie is widely admired and considered an expert when it comes to venous disease and providing vascular therapy that is ultrasound guided. Having carried out a residency at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she also continued training by carrying out an advanced fellowship year. During this time, she learned about anesthetic management when it comes to thoracic and cardio vascular disorders. She is now a vein specialist San Diego.
Her work is well recognized, and awards have been given as she was seen as the outstanding clinician while in her residency and when at Harvard, chosen to be the Chief Resident. As well as practicing, Dr. Guthrie has had numerous articles published and continues to work hard to help her patients as well as still learning from experts that she works alongside. She is now able to use the most up to date techniques. She is double board certified and has worked alongside the best in the world when it comes to venous treatment.
Varicose vein treatment San Diego is not going to be too much of a problem. She has a number of areas where she is an expert and they include phlebotomy, VenaSeal techniques and sclerotherapy. She is ensuring that her patients receive the best and most up to date treatments available. It is reassuring for people who have to put up with varicose veins or spider veins to know that there is a way to treat them.
Options for Treatment
If the home veins treatments have not worked, the next step that the vein specialist San Diego will want to take is minimally invasive options. This means there is less of a risk of infection and also the recovery time will be quick. Not all will be a one off and your varicose vein treatment San Diego can expect to have to go back at least 2 or 4 times before the veins are gone for good. Ones the veins have been dealt with, they will not come back but unfortunately that does not mean that there will not be others that become defective and require the same procedures to be carried out on them.
Types of Varicose Vein Treatment San Diego
Sadly, not everyone is going to be cured with the basic spider veins treatments and they will need to go a step further and have treatment in a clinic or hospital. Once that has been determined, the vein specialist San Diego will make a choice out of the following treatments.
Sclerotherapy San Diego
Here there will be small and medium sized veins undergoing varicose vein treatment San Diego – it will not be suitable for large, fully formed varicose veins. A solution is injected into the veins and as a result they will close in on themselves. Blood can no longer get in and over time they will fade away. This is one procedure that may need a few treatments to take place, but it is considered to be a totally safe and effective procedure. One major advantage for both the patient and the doctor when sclerotherapy San Diego is recommended is that there is no need for anesthesia.
When the veins are larger, a similar practice can be carried out and this is foam sclerotherapy. Foam is pushed into the veins by the vein specialist San Diego and despite their size, they will be closed and although this is a newer technique, it is proving to be very popular.
Laser Surgery
Spider veins and other small veins can be best treated this way. As the vein is attacked by rays of light, it starts to become feint and eventually disappears. There is no need to make any incision so is truly non-invasive form of varicose vein treatment San Diego.
Radio frequency Ablation
Here there is a thin tube or catheter placed into the vein and the catheter is heated. Again, the heat is going to cause the vein to collapse. If the veins are large, RFA this is the procedure that most doctors will recommend, and a vein specialist San Diego will be able to tell right away if the veins are large enough to warrant this procedure.
Vein stripping
Otherwise known as high ligation, here the vein is tied off and brought out of the body through a section od small cuts. There will not be the need to stay in hospital after undergoing this treatment by a vein specialist San Diego and other veins will take over meaning there is nothing to worry about when it comes to the journey the blood will take when travelling back to the heart.
Ambulatory Phlebectomy
Again, the skin will be punctured, and veins removed. This will be for small veins and the wounds normally heal with very little scarring. A vein specialist San Diego will allow you to go home the same day and carry on with a lot of your normal activities.
Endoscopic Vein Surgery
This is more serious and tends to be carried out when all other methods have failed or there is the risk of ulceration. The veins are taken out through incisions after they have been identified via a small camera that goes into the leg.
As you should be able to see there is no limit to the amount of treatment you will be able to get when you need varicose vein treatment San Diego. Doctors will be trained to the highest level and there is nothing that you are going to show them that will concern them. If they have not treated something like your case before, they will know and get in touch with someone – another vein specialist San Diego who has.
You should be able to carry on with your normal way of life soon after, although you will have to look out for certain things such as veins infection when there has been an incision made, or new veins appearing in roughly the same area. There are rarely veins that cannot be treated so rest assured that there will be help wherever it is that you live in San Diego.