Do you have a burning question about varicose veins, leg, foot, or skin problems, or other related issue?
This is the place to ask those questions! By leaving your question in the contact box below, our experienced vein treatment specialist will answer your question as soon as possible. Remember, while we do know our stuff regarding varicose veins, there is no substitute for a personal visit to your Doctor. We encourage you to read our disclaimer before asking your question.
Here are a few example questions that we have answered for some of our other visitors in the past.
From Joanne:
“My MD has recommended I have Endoluminal laser ablation. My history includes swelling, thrombophlebitis, stasis, valve incompetence. I am not interested in a treatment for vanity purposes and wonder if this proceedure will correct some of the problems.”
Dear Joanne,
Thanks for the inquiry. It sounds as though you have rather significant varicose veins. It also sounds as if the greater saphenous vein is incompetent (thus the need for laser ablation). In
cases such as these the symptoms and problems can certainly be improved by eliminating the offending veins. Treating the greater saphenous vein with laser ablation should make some improvement, however, if there are large twisted branch veins, then these will need to be addressed as well to achieve full improvement. Only time will tell and I usually recommend at least 3-4 weeks of watching after the laser ablation. Then decisions can be made as to whether or not more treatment is needed.
Good Luck with your treatment.
From Rosie:
“Under what diagnosis will an insurance cover for treatment for vericose veins?”
Thank you for the inquiry.
There really are no diagnosis that gaurantee insurance coverage. Each company has its own policy. There are some diagnosis that do seem to carry more weight than others. These are mainly diagnosis that demonstrate medical nessesity for treatment.
Some of these are:
1. Varicose veins with ulcer……454.0
2. Venous insufficiency………..459.81
3. Pain in limb……………….729.5
4. Leg edema………………….782.3
5. superficial thrombolphlebitis
Remember that your provider is bound by ethics and can only diagnose things that actually exist or are actual complaints from the patient.
Good Luck!
From Margie:
“I have redness around the varciose veins and according to the articles you are calling this stasis dermatis or ulcerations. Should i try compression stockings? would this work? If, not what is my next option? And what kind of doctor do i go to, and what would be the best treatment for me?”
Thanks for the inquiry Margie.
There are actually 2 common reasons for redness around varicose veins. The first is stasis dermatitis. This is skin irritation from the backflow of blood in the broken veins. Basically, the skin is unhealthy due to poor vein circulation. This usually starts as a small patch of redness and grows over months to years. The other explanation is superficial thrombophlebitis. This is where a clot forms in the varicose vein. This happens because blood flow in a varicose vein is very slow and slow moving blood tends to want to clot. This is not the dangerous kind of clot that can go to the heart or lungs, but can become red, hot, and very tender. This is usually a small area and comes on over hours to days and resolves on its own in about 2-3 weeks. Compression Socks do help with venous backflow and thus with skin problems. However, it is a temporary fix and would most likely return in the future if you stopped wearing them. Many times the disease is too far along for sock to help much.
It sounds as if you have rather significant varicose vein disease and I would recommend that you have a consult with a vein specialist. Try to locate a physician who uses “Endoluminal” techniques. If you ask about this when you call, they should be able to tell you.
Both of the above problems do get better with treatment of the offending varicose vein.
Thanks again
From Tammy:
“Can you help me, I have a big vein that my husband threw a soft ball at and busted. Now when I stand alot it swells out and hurts all the time – very painful! I went to the emergency room last night and the doctor said I had a blood clot and that I need to find a vein doctor. Help!”
Hi Tammy,
Varicose Veins are known to form blood clots when they are injured. The blood in them is not moving very well and therefor is on the edge of clotting most of the time. A small injury is often times all that is necessary for a clot to form.
When this happens it is known as superficial thrombophlebitis. This is NOT a Deep Vein thrombosis (the dangerous kind of leg clot). I am assuming that this is the case with you as well based on your story. Treatment is usually an anti-inflammatory such as Advil and applying a heat pad to the area for 20-30 minutes a day 3 times a day. It usually will resolve in 1-2 weeks. Once the clot has resolved it is a good idea to treat the varicose vein so that this does not occur again.
With regard to a vein Doctor, I recommend that you check out our Provider Directory.
From Mark:
“I have a varicose vein in my leg. It is hard and swollen since yesterday. What should I do?”
This may be due to a clot that has formed in it. Redness and tenderness usually accompany this. It is known as superficial thrombophlebitis. This is not a dangerous clot from the standpoint of it dislodging and traveling to your lungs. It is usually uncomfortable and will take 2-3 weeks to resolve however. Use heat 20 minutes 2 times per day on it and Advil or some similar anti-inflammatory.
You should also seek a consultation with your physician to be sure this is what is going on. Also look into treating the vein later so that this does not reoccur.
“The vein specialist I visited suggested that he should treat my saphenous vein instead of just eliminating the bulging vein on my calf that I want to get rid of. Is that reasonable? Would the vein on my calf disappear after saphenous vein treatment as the doctor says?”
Answer by Dr. Dishakjian of Nu Vela Esthetica
Most probably, the specialist you visited performed an Ultrasound test and identified your saphenous vein at the groin level as the source of backflow of blood into the bulging vein on your calf. Accordingly, when the backflow of blood stops after saphenous vein treatment, the bulging vein on your calf will very likely adjust back to normal pressure conditions and its appearance will significantly improve. In case, after a few weeks, you are not completely satisfied with the cosmetic outcome, the doctor can eliminate the vein on your calf by resorting to Sclerotherapy; that is, inject some solution directly into the vein on your calf. I should mention that treating only visible varicose veins, without first targeting the source of trouble in the main superficial veins (like the Greater Saphenous Vein) is the most common reason for early treatment failure and recurrence of varicose veins. Please visit varicose vein treatment for more information on the subject.
