Arteries bring oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body and veins return oxygen-poor blood back to the heart.
There are two kinds of veins in the lower extremities. The first one is under the skin and it is called superficial. The second one is deeper between the muscles and it is called deep.
Varicose veins and spider veins are diseases of the superficial veins and occur with increasing frequency, especially among women.
Lower extremity varicose veins
Varicose veins are bulging, palpable veins immediately under the skin.
Varicose Veins
They occur more often among women between 30 and 70 years old. Risk factors include: family history, obesity, lack of exercise, pregnancy and prolonged standing or sitting.
Inside the veins there are one way venous valves allowing the blood to flow only from the legs to the heart and not vice versa. When valves are not functioning well, they allow the blood to stagnate in the superficial veins of the lower extremities, creating varicose veins.
Mechanism of Varicose Veins
Initially, varicose veins cause no symptoms. Later, they may cause pain, swelling, night cramps, color change and hardening of the skin as well as nonhealing ulcers (sores). The most significant complication is thrombosis (blood clot).
Diagnosis is confirmed with physical examination and Duplex Ultrasound.
State of the art treatment is minimally invasive, painless, with excellent cosmetic results
At our Clinic at Hygeia Hospital, we performed, for the first time in Greece, a state of the art minimally invasive treatment of varicose veins, the "Superglue Treatment" with Venaseal. The Venaseal procedure is the first and only treatment that uses a very powerful endovascular glue (cyanoacrylate) for varicose veins.
Venaseal treatment has excellent results and has already been performed successfully in a large number of patients. Furthermore, in our Clinic, we continue to use older methods for varicose vein treatment (endovascular laser, radiofrequency, foam sclerotherapy, endovascular stripping, variscectomy). We offer an individualized treatment to each patient in order to achieve excellent results with minimal complications and small risk of recurrence. For further information on Superglue Treatment with Venaseal press here.
Varicose Veins Before (L) and After (R) Treatment