English
Spanish
Varicose veins are a common and frequently harmless condition many adults in the United States experience.
For most people, varicose veins do not require any medical intervention. However, there are some cases where vascular surgery may be necessary.
What Is Vascular Surgery?
Vascular surgeons are specialists who treat diseases of your vascular system.
Your vascular system is your circulatory system, and it’s made up of the vessels that help circulate blood and lymph throughout your body.
These vessels include arteries, arterioles, veins, venules, and capillaries.
Why Is Blood Circulation Important?
Healthy circulation is critical for maintaining proper health. Your circulatory system ensures that both blood and oxygen can continuously flow throughout your body, which allows your organs to function properly.
Circulation also plays a role in helping your wounds heal, keeping your brain sharp and healthy, keeping your heart healthy, and improving the health of your skin, nails, and hair.
Without blood circulation, there’s no way for your organs to get the oxygen and nutrients they need to operate.
How Varicose Veins Impede Blood Circulation
Varicose veins occur when the valves inside your veins weaken, decreasing circulation through those veins. This results in blood pooling in the veins and creates swelling, pressure, and pain.
Because varicose veins are a sign of poor blood circulation, surgical intervention may be necessary.
In some cases, the pain from varicose veins becomes unbearable. Patients with severe varicose veins often experience sensations of pressure and heaviness, dull aching, total numbness, and tingling. While the pain is sometimes mild and just uncomfortable, for others, it manifests itself in severe, unbearable pain.
If you’re experiencing relentless pain from varicose veins, surgery could be a valid intervention.
Vascular Surgery for Varicose Veins
When vascular surgery is performed on varicose veins, procedures are done to either remove them or close them.
Removing or closing weakened or damaged veins doesn’t harm your circulation further because your body compensates by flowing blood through other veins instead.
One of the main forms of vascular surgery performed on varicose veins is called endoscopic vein surgery.
Endoscopic Vein Surgery
Endoscopic vein surgery involves your doctor making a small incision near the varicose vein. They will then insert an endoscope (a tiny camera attached to a thin tube) into your body to move through the vein.
At the end of the endoscopic device is a surgical tool that closes the vein.
Endoscopic vein surgery is typically reserved for severe cases where your varicose veins are causing skin ulcers.
Why Do Varicose Veins Cause Ulcers?
Varicose veins cause venous ulcers as a result of poor blood circulation. These ulcers are not only painful, but they can also lead to further health complications like infections in your skin, soft tissues, and bone joints or septicemia, which is blood poisoning from a bacterial infection.
If you have varicose veins and are concerned about whether you may need vascular surgery, contact Metropolitan Vein and Aesthetic Center for a consultation.
