By Joseph G. Magnant, MD, FACS, RPVI
At Vein Specialists we see patients every day with a variety of leg symptoms. Patients commonly complain of varicose or spider veins, swelling, and legs that feel tired or achy at the end of the day. Patients often relate to us that they used to love to get pedicures but now they don’t enjoy them because the lower leg massage has become uncomfort able or painful. This pain can often be due to a medical condition known as venous insufficiency and is due to increased fluid accumu- lation in the calf muscles.
Venous insufficiency is a very common and often underdiagnosed condition affecting close to 50 million Americans. It is estimated to be present in as much as 40% of the adult population and is more prevalent over the age of 50. Heredity is the common thread, and exacerbating factors include advanced age, female gender, obesity and standing or sedentary occupations. Women are more likely to seek attention than their male counterparts.
Venous insufficiency is a medical condition where the valves in the superficial venous system in the legs fail and over time leads to blood pooling in the leg veins, especially when standing or sitting for prolonged periods of time. This leads to abnormally high venous pressure in the veins or “venous hypertension”. It is this high venous pressure which leads to the many signs and symptoms of venous insufficiency, including general achiness and tenderness in the lower legs which can make the massage portion of a pedicure uncomfortable or even painful!
The most commonly recognized sign of venous insufficiency is varicose veins. However, there are many other presentations of venous insufficiency including swollen, achy, tired & heavy legs especially at the end of the day. In severe cases,
discoloration and thickening around the skin of the lower legs may occur which can lead to venous ulceration.
As the pressure in the venous system builds throughout the day symptoms often progress and are often worse in the evening around bedtime. This is when the nighttime triad of symptoms of venous insufficiency including:
1) restless legs, 2) leg cramps and 3) excessive urination become problematic and can adversely affect sleep.
Vein Specialists offers comprehensive modern vein evaluation and care. Under the direction of founder and medical director Dr. Joseph Magnant, the Vein Specialists team of Advanced Medical Providers and Registered Vascular
Sonographers, start by performing a complete history and physical examination and offer detailed ultrasound evaluations critical to creating a treatment plan best matched to each patient’s presentation and diagnostic findings.
Modern vein evaluation and intervention is vastly improved over what was available prior to 2000, when invasive procedures such as vein ligation or stripping were the only options available. These procedures required general anesthesia and had unacceptably high complication rates. Since 2000, patients with venous insufficiency have been able to be treated under local anesthesia in an outpatient setting with something called endovenous ablation. This can be accomplished with either laser or radiofrequency catheters which heat and permanently seal the leaky veins decreasing the venous pressure in the legs and significantly improving leg symptoms and appearance.
The newest type of endovenous ablation is Venaseal™, which closes the vein using a medical adhesive rather than heat. This technique offers the advantage of requiring fewer injections, and is able to treat the entire length of the vein from groin to the ankle. Venaseal™ has been proven to be as effective as thermal ablation and has been covered by Medicare since early 2018 and is anticipated to be covered by other commercial insurance companies by early 2019.
In 2017, Vein Specialists opened their state of the art interventional suite to offer intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) for the investigation of iliac vein compression syndrome & pelvic congestion syndrome. IVUS investigation may be appropriate for patients who have failed previous vein treatments, who have had recurrence of symptoms years later, or have more advanced venous disease with severe edema, skin changes and ulceration. Patients who have been plagued with symptoms of pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) may also benefit from further venous evaluation including IVUS investigation.
So, this holiday season, rather than endure the painful massage portion of your pedicure or other signs or symptoms of venous insufficiency, consider getting a thorough vein evaluation at Vein Specialists, one of only a few IAC accredited vein centers in the entire state for Florida.
Call 239-694-VEIN (8346) or go to www.WeKnowVeins.com for more information.
Joseph G. Magnant,
MD, FACS, RPVI
Board Certified Vascular Surgeon
Trust your leg vein care to Dr. Joseph G. Magnant & the Vein Specialists team.
. SWFL’s only IAC accredited vein centers (Fort Myers & Bonita Springs)
. More than 25,000 patients treated since 2006
. State of the art vein treatment techniques including Closurefast, Laser, VenaSealTM and Ivus
239-694-VEIN(8346)
1500 Royal Palm Square Blvd., Suite 105, Fort Myers, Florida
3359 Woods Edge Circle, Suite 102, Bonita Springs, Florida