Get Rid of Painful Varicose Veins and Start Loving Your Legs Again

Varicose veins are enlarged “rope-like” veins — blood vessels — that are swollen and raised above the surface of the skin. They can be flesh-colored, dark purple, or blue, and often look like a cluster of grapes. They are commonly found on the back of the calves or the inside of the legs. However, they can form anywhere on the legs, from groin to ankle.

Spider veins are similar to varicose veins, but they are smaller and closer to the surface of the skin. They are often red or blue, and look like tree branches or spider webs. They can occur anywhere on the legs, and can cover either a very small or very large area of skin. They don’t bulge like varicose veins, but are often more noticeable.

Varicose veins result from abnormal inner walls or abnormal valves in these blood vessels. Blood is carried through arteries from the heart to the rest of the body, and returned to the heart through the body’s veins, called the venous system. Veins have valves that act as one-way flaps, preventing blood from backing up and pooling. When these one-way valves don’t work properly, blood then may flow backwards, causing the veins to dilate (enlarge) and become varicose. The technical terms for this condition are venous reflux or venous insufficiency.

Spider veins can be caused by hormonal changes, sun damage or local injury.  They can also occur as a result of larger underlying varicose veins which are not always visible.  It is important that spider veins are fully investigated using ultrasound to identify the incompetent valves within veins the cause varicose veins, as failure to treat these usually results in early recurrence of spider veins and a poor cosmetic outcome.

Common risk factors for varicose and spider veins include:

• Increasing age
• Family history
• Pregnancy and hormonal changes
• Obesity
• Prolonged standing
• Prior deep venous thrombosis

In many cases, varicose and spider veins cause no symptoms. However, these veins are often unattractive and may become painful. Prolonged sitting or standing tends to make legs with varicose veins feel worse. Some common symptoms of them include:

• Aching pain
• Itching
• Burning
• Leg swelling
• Easily tired legs
• Numbness in the legs
• Leg heaviness
• Darkening of the skin
• Rash on the legs
• Skin ulcers

Self-help measures (conservative therapy) can help ease the pain of varicose veins and may prevent them from getting worse. But if the way they look and feel becomes a concern or if self-help measures are not successful, then it’s time to see one of our doctors.

Injection microsclerotherapy is a treatment for spider veins which involves injecting a chemical substance called “sclerosant” using fine needles.  The sclerosant irritates the inner wall of the veins and causes them to become inflamed; the vein walls then stick together and the vein disappears.

Ultrasound Guided Sclerotherapy (UGS) is a highly specialised procedure for treating advanced varicose veins that are hidden beneath the skin.

The procedure is very effective and involves injecting a sclerosant solution into the abnormal veins using ultrasound guidance, causing the vein wall to collapse. The veins dissolve and disappear as the body gradually absorbs them.