Those twisted, bulging, eyesore blood vessels known as varicose veins aren’t doing you any favors. Damaged and defective, they slow down your circulation and can, over time, lead to a number of unpleasant sensations.
Varicose veins affect about 23% of women and men in the United States. But even though they’re common, they’re not well understood by the general population, so myths about these torqued veins abound.
At Laurelton Heart Specialists, our expert cardiologist, Dr. Ola Akinboboye, diagnoses and treats all forms of chronic venous insufficiency, including varicose veins. He helps you find the best way to manage or remove these defective vessels at our office in Rosedale, Queens, New York, and dispels the most common myths.
What myths should you stop believing about varicose veins? Here are five of them, followed by the plain truth that busts those myths.
Truth: Varicose veins aren’t doing their jobs. They’ve been damaged over time due to a number of factors and can’t push your blood efficiently back up through your legs to your heart.
Not only are varicose veins unnecessary — due to their weakened valves and stiffness — they impede your circulation. Take them out and your body doesn’t miss them; it just reroutes your circulation to healthier veins and improves your blood flow.
Truth: Varicose veins are certainly an aesthetic problem, but they’re more than that. Because they’re defective and slow down your circulation, they put you at risk for a number of complications. Over time, without removal, your varicose veins may cause:
Don’t wait until you develop complications before you remove your varicose veins. Even if you don’t think you’re ready for a removal procedure, you can schedule a consultation to get a precise diagnosis and prognosis for your varicose veins.
Truth: It’s true that women are more likely to develop varicose veins than men are, but that doesn’t mean that men are protected from these twisted, defective blood vessels. Up to 45% of men in the U.S. will develop varicose veins at some point, especially as they age.
Truth: While lifestyle can factor into the development of varicose veins, this condition tends to run in families and has other risk factors, too. Crossing your legs isn’t one of them.
Although crossing your legs may temporarily increase pressure on your veins, making them feel more painful, it’s not enough to actually damage your blood vessels. Instead, if you wish to avoid or improve your varicose veins, do the following:
If you need help switching out old, bad habits and developing new, healthy ones, let us know. We can refer you to smoking cessation programs or recommend you for medically supervised weight loss.
Truth: You don’t have to go through your grandma’s varicose-vein surgery. Although vein stripping through long incisions was once the only way to remove these defective, circulation-slowing blood vessels, medicine has advanced dramatically over the last generation or so.
Now, you can choose from minimally invasive techniques to remove your varicose veins. We offer vein ablation, in which we insert a catheter into the damaged, twisted vein and destroy it with heat. Your body resorbs the vein and reroutes your circulation. Soon, your legs look better and feel better, too.
Are you ready to improve your comfort, circulation, and the appearance of your legs with varicose vein removal? Call our knowledgeable office staff at 718-208-4816 to set up an appointment, or fill out our online outreach form today.
