Kentville, NS Summerside, PEI
Call Now 902-678-2121

Home Conditions Varicose veins

Varicose veinsNot just cosmetic.

The bulging, twisted veins you can see are usually a sign that valves deeper in the leg have stopped doing their job.

Book a consultation Call 902-678-2121

The pattern

Symptoms and risk factors

What people notice, and what makes it more likely.

Symptoms

  • Aching legs
  • Heaviness
  • Swelling
  • Night cramps
  • Visible bulging veins
  • Skin changes or discolouration
  • Itching over a vein

Risk factors

  • Family history
  • Pregnancy and hormonal changes
  • Weight gain
  • Prolonged standing or sitting
  • Certain injuries
  • Age

The visible part

What varicose veins are

Veins carry blood back toward the heart, against gravity. One-way valves stop it falling back down. When those valves weaken or fail, blood flows backward and pools in the lower leg. That is reflux, and the pressure it creates is what pushes a vein into the twisted, bulging shape you can see.

Abnormal leg veins are thought to affect a third of the adult population, ranging from tiny spider veins to large bulging varicosities and everything in between.

The vein you can see is rarely the whole story. The vein causing the problem is usually deeper, and often one of the great or small saphenous veins. That is why an assessment starts with duplex ultrasound rather than with what is visible on the surface.

Setting the record straight

Why they are not only cosmetic

Misconceptions about venous disease are common: that it is only a cosmetic problem, that not much can be done even if it is painful, and that treatment is only available in expensive private clinics. None of those hold up.

In Dr Davidson's words, writing for patients on our blog: this is a serious medical problem affecting large numbers of people. For some patients appearance is the main concern. For many others venous disease is painful and debilitating.

Any of these veins can be painful, even the little ones. One person may have large varicosities or even ulceration with no symptoms at all, while another finds small spider veins genuinely painful. Severity on the surface is a poor guide to severity underneath.

Left alone, the underlying problem can lead to leg ulcers, which are painful and can be very difficult to heal, especially if neglected.

Worth an appointment

When to see someone

Any one of these is reason enough to have your legs looked at.

  • Your legs ache, feel heavy or swell by the end of the day.
  • You get cramping at night.
  • The skin around your ankle is changing colour, hardening or itching.
  • A vein has started to bulge, or an existing one is getting worse.
  • You have a sore near your ankle that is not healing.
  • Someone in your family has needed vein treatment and you want to know where you stand.

What an assessment involves

A painless scan maps the veins in your legs, your vascular surgeon reads it with you in the same visit, and you leave with a plan. Plenty of people leave with nothing that needs treating.

About the ultrasound assessment

What can be done

Treatment options

Which one applies to you depends on the scan, not on how your legs look.

A laser closes a diseased vein from the inside, through a single entry point, under local anesthetic, in about one to two hours.

A liquid agent is injected into the vein through a fine needle, making it shrink and disappear over the weeks that follow.

Graduated compression is strongest at the ankle and decreases up the leg, supporting the calf muscle pump and helping blood return toward the heart.

All vein treatments

Prevention and self-care

Looking after your legs

None of this replaces an assessment, and all of it helps.

Keep moving

Walking activates the calf muscle pump, which is what helps push blood back up out of your legs. A manageable walk you repeat beats an ambitious one you do once.

Interrupt long sitting or standing

The pump is idle when you are still. Break up a long stretch at a desk or on your feet rather than waiting for the end of the day.

Elevate when you rest

Giving your legs a lift helps ease symptoms at the end of the day.

Wear compression if it is recommended

Graduated compression supports the pump from the outside. It is measured and fitted in clinic: see compression and bracing for the fitting detail, or compression therapy for how it works.

Look after your skin

Moisturise dry skin and report new changes rather than watching them.

The vein clinic difference

One visit. Not two years.

Vein patients used to wait more than two years and make several trips before seeing a specialist. Integrating ultrasound testing with the surgeon consultation turned that into a single appointment.

  1. Step 1

    Ultrasound

    A certified ultrasonographer maps your veins and circulation prior to your consultation.

  2. Step 2

    Surgeon consult

    Your vascular surgeon reviews the results with you and explains what they mean.

  3. Step 3

    Your plan

    Treatment, compression therapy or prevention advice, based on your results.

In more depth

Further reading

Written by the team who treat it.

Varicose veins, answered

Questions

The questions patients ask us most often.

Are varicose veins dangerous?

They are a sign of a disease process rather than a cosmetic flaw, and left alone the underlying problem can lead to skin changes and leg ulcers that are painful and difficult to heal. Whether yours need treating is what the ultrasound assessment establishes.

Will they go away on their own?

No. Venous disease is chronic. Treatment can significantly diminish varicose veins, relieve symptoms and reduce the risk of ulcers, but there is usually no cure, and it is worth keeping the health of your leg veins in mind lifelong.

Do I need a referral?

[CLIENT TO CONFIRM: do patients need a referral for a vein assessment, and does that differ between Nova Scotia and PEI?]

Is treatment covered?

Advice and treatment are available and covered financially by public health care, especially for patients with pain and other symptoms, and there are legitimate private options as well. What applies to you depends on the clinical picture, which is exactly what the ultrasound establishes.

What happens if I do nothing?

Many people manage for years with compression and movement. The disease process does continue, and the risk is skin changes and ulceration over time, which are much harder to deal with than the veins themselves.

Does crossing my legs cause varicose veins?

[CLIENT TO CONFIRM: patients ask about crossing legs, tight clothing and hot baths. Does the clinic want to address these common beliefs here?]

Can I treat them while pregnant?

No. Vein procedures are postponed during pregnancy. Compression is often used in the meantime, and many pregnancy-related veins settle afterward.

Which treatment will I need?

That depends on which veins are refluxing and how far it extends. Larger refluxing veins are usually treated with endovenous laser; surface veins with sclerotherapy or elōs™ laser; and compression supports either. Your surgeon goes through it with you after the scan.

Find out where you stand.

One visit: a scan, a vascular surgeon who reads it with you, and a plan you understand.

Call 902-678-2121 Book a consultation

Be the first to know.

Get advance notice of all promotions, contests and special events we hold, direct to your inbox.