by NJ Cardiovascular Institute | Apr 13, 2021 | Blog, Varicose Veins, Venous Health
Do you have twisted, puffy, discolored veins on your legs or feet? You’re not alone — almost 25% of American adults have varicose veins — but you don’t have to live with them.
Varicose veins are one of the most common vascular conditions, and they form when the valves inside veins malfunction and become less efficient at sending blood back to your heart. Blood gets trapped in your veins and pools, creating raised, enlarged veins that are visible under the surface of your skin.
These veins can be embarrassing, but they can also cause painful symptoms. If you’re bothered by varicose veins, schedule a vein assessment with Kunal Patel, MD, and our team at NJ Cardiovascular Institute. We offer ultrasound for diagnostic imaging as well as personalized treatment for people with varicose veins.
Preparing for your varicose vein assessment
Your varicose vein appointment starts with an exam. We look at your legs while you’re sitting or standing to locate visible varicose veins, and we talk with you about your symptoms.
For many people, varicose veins are primarily a cosmetic concern, but don’t hesitate to bring up any other symptoms you’re experiencing at your appointment.
Along with visible, unsightly veins, other possible symptoms include:
Feeling of heaviness in legs
Aching sensation in legs
Swelling
Burning or cramping pain
Pain with long periods of sitting
Pain with extended periods of standing
Itching near a vein
Skin discoloration around a vein
We review your symptoms and your medical history to determine the extent of your condition. Depending on the severity of your varicose veins and other symptoms, we might recommend additional diagnostic testing with ultrasound.
Getting an ultrasound for varicose veins
Ultrasound testing helps us confirm your varicose vein diagnosis and rule out other vascular disorders. Sometimes, symptoms like leg pain and heaviness are due to other vascular conditions, like deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and ultrasound allows us to give you an accurate diagnosis.
A vascular ultrasound is a noninvasive test that utilizes high-frequency sound waves to create pictures of tissues inside your body. You don’t have to do anything to prepare for the test, and we perform it right in the office.
We apply a gel to your legs or feet, wherever the varicose veins are located. The technician gently guides the ultrasound device over your varicose veins, and the test shows how the valves in your veins are working.
If additional testing is needed, we may perform a Doppler ultrasound to see blood flowing through your veins. Duplex ultrasound combines both regular and Doppler ultrasound to give our team a comprehensive look at your vein health.
You don’t have to live with varicose veins. Find out more about your condition with a diagnostic ultrasound at NJ Cardiovascular Institute, and get a treatment plan that’s right for you. Contact us while you’re online, or call the nearest office — in Newark, Secaucus, or Paramus, New Jersey — for a consultation.
You Might Also Enjoy…
Understanding the 5 Most Common Types of Heart Disease
Your heart works tirelessly for you day and night, but do you know the warning signs when something is wrong? Learn about the five most common types of heart disease, what they mean for your health, and how to protect your heart.
4 Common Reasons for Needing a Stress Test
A stress test is a valuable tool for evaluating your heart’s performance under physical strain. Understanding what the test reveals and why physicians recommend it can help you feel confident and prepared if your doctor suggests it for you.
Don't Ignore Leg Pain: It Could Be Peripheral Artery Disease
Leg pain that occurs when you’re walking might feel like muscle strain, but it can be a warning sign of something more serious. Peripheral artery disease reduces blood flow to your legs, and recognizing it early helps protect your heart health.
New Year, New You: 5 Resolutions for a Healthier Heart
A new year is the perfect time to set meaningful health goals — and they don’t have to be complicated to be effective. These five heart-healthy resolutions can help you start the year strong and protect your cardiovascular health for the future.
Navigating Holiday Feasts: A Guide to Heart-Healthy Eating
Holiday celebrations often revolve around food — making the season challenge even the most disciplined heart-healthy habits. The good news is mindful choices make all the difference, and here’s how to enjoy the festivities and protect your health.
by NJ Cardiovascular Institute | Dec 15, 2020 | Blog, Varicose Veins, Venous Health, Womens Health
Varicose veins are large, twisted veins just below the surface of your skin. They’re an extremely common vascular problem, affecting an estimated 23% of American adults.
The top complaint regarding varicose veins is that they’re unsightly or embarrassing, but symptoms can go beyond being simply cosmetic. Varicose veins can cause swelling, muscle cramps, and itchy skin.
Whether you’re bothered by pain or embarrassment, our team at NJ Cardiovascular Institute can help. Kunal Patel, MD, and our team of specialists offer diagnostics and treatment for varicose veins.
To some extent, you can’t control whether or not you’ll develop varicose veins or how severe they’ll be. But there are some risk factors that you can change. Dr. Patel shares a few common factors that affect varicose veins.
Body weight
Being overweight or obese can impact your health in a variety of ways. Extra body fat makes your muscles, organs, and veins work harder, and carrying extra weight could contribute to varicose veins.
Obesity puts extra pressure on your abdomen and your legs. Increased blood pressure increases your risk of vein damage, because there’s a greater chance of congestion within veins as blood travels back to your heart.
Activity level and lifestyle
Living a sedentary lifestyle may increase your risk of developing varicose veins and make existing varicose veins worse. Spending long periods of time sitting makes your vascular system work harder to return blood to your heart.
It’s a common misconception that sitting with your legs crossed increases your risk of varicose veins. Crossing your legs won’t cause the condition on its own, but it can make existing varicose veins or other vascular problems worse.
On the other hand, spending most of the day standing is hard on veins, too. Since your legs are so far from your heart, veins are put under increased stress when you stand in one place for too long.
Pregnancy
Like carrying extra weight or spending long hours on your feet, being pregnant puts increased strain on your vascular system. When you’re pregnant, the amount of blood in your body naturally increases, and this can enlarge your veins and increase your blood pressure.
Pregnancy, increased blood volume, and hormones all contribute to varicose veins, making it a common issue that many expecting mothers face. The good news is that varicose veins that develop during pregnancy often improve on their own a few months after your baby is born.
Other varicose vein risk factors
You can’t control every risk factor for varicose veins. Gender, age, and genetics all play a role in whether or not you’ll develop them. For example, women are at least two times more likely than men to have varicose veins.
For women and men alike, risk increases with age because veins naturally weaken over the years. People with a family history of varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) may be at increased risk for developing varicose veins themselves.
Schedule a varicose vein evaluation at NJ Cardiovascular Institute to find out what you can do to keep your varicose veins from getting worse. Call the office nearest you in either Secaucus or Newark, New Jersey, or book an appointment online.
You Might Also Enjoy…
Understanding the 5 Most Common Types of Heart Disease
Your heart works tirelessly for you day and night, but do you know the warning signs when something is wrong? Learn about the five most common types of heart disease, what they mean for your health, and how to protect your heart.
4 Common Reasons for Needing a Stress Test
A stress test is a valuable tool for evaluating your heart’s performance under physical strain. Understanding what the test reveals and why physicians recommend it can help you feel confident and prepared if your doctor suggests it for you.
Don't Ignore Leg Pain: It Could Be Peripheral Artery Disease
Leg pain that occurs when you’re walking might feel like muscle strain, but it can be a warning sign of something more serious. Peripheral artery disease reduces blood flow to your legs, and recognizing it early helps protect your heart health.
New Year, New You: 5 Resolutions for a Healthier Heart
A new year is the perfect time to set meaningful health goals — and they don’t have to be complicated to be effective. These five heart-healthy resolutions can help you start the year strong and protect your cardiovascular health for the future.
Navigating Holiday Feasts: A Guide to Heart-Healthy Eating
Holiday celebrations often revolve around food — making the season challenge even the most disciplined heart-healthy habits. The good news is mindful choices make all the difference, and here’s how to enjoy the festivities and protect your health.
by NJ Cardiovascular Institute | Jul 24, 2020 | Blog, Varicose Veins, Venous Health, Womens Health
About one in four Americans has varicose veins — those large, twisted veins that appear just below the skin’s surface on the legs and feet. Varicose veins range from purplish red to blue, and they’re a source of embarrassment for many people.
Varicose veins form when valves inside your veins malfunction, causing blood to flow back the wrong way or pool inside your veins. Most of the time, varicose veins are simply a cosmetic concern and don’t pose serious risks to your health, but they can lead to more severe complications if left untreated.
Kunal Patel, MD, and our team at NJ Cardiovascular Institute are here to help — whether you’re experiencing discomfort, swelling, or you’re unhappy with the way your legs look. Our varicose vein team offers treatments to improve your legs’ appearance and reduce your risk of suffering medical complications related to varicose veins.
More than just a cosmetic issue, a few potential dangers of varicose veins include leg pain, stasis ulcers, and blood clots.
Leg pain
Varicose veins can develop anywhere in the body, but they’re most often located in the legs or feet due to increased pressure inside your veins when you stand and walk. After cosmetic concerns, the most common symptom of varicose veins is leg pain.
Pooling blood can make your legs feel heavy or achy. In more severe cases, varicose veins may cause burning, throbbing, or swelling in affected legs. Discomfort may increase when you sit or stand for long periods of time, and sometimes the skin around varicose veins becomes itchy.
Stasis ulcers
Varicose veins form when blood isn’t effectively pumped back to your heart. As a result, blood collects in the veins, stretching the walls and creating more pressure. This may cause chronic swelling around the veins, and proteins inside your blood can leak into surrounding tissues and create skin ulcers, also called stasis ulcers.
Stasis ulcers may cause skin discoloration and scaling on your lower legs. Discoloration can appear dark red or purple, because blood spreads into surrounding tissue. The ulcer itself may appear shallow but large, and usually develops around your calf or ankle. Ulcers increase your risk of developing an infection and require professional medical care.
Blood clots
Although rare, blood clots are another potential danger of varicose veins. Clots can form inside superficial veins, causing swelling and tenderness in the affected area. Blood clots in superficial veins can be painful, but they generally don’t travel to the lungs or cause other health complications.
However, it’s possible for blood clots to develop in severe varicose veins deep inside your legs. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a serious medical condition that can cause a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung) and related complications. Talk to our team to find out if you’re at risk for DVT.
Finding treatment for varicose veins
Don’t hesitate to make an appointment with us at NJ Cardiovascular Institute if you’re concerned about your varicose veins. We offer vein evaluations and various treatment options for both cosmetic and health reasons.
We perform a complete evaluation, that may include ultrasound testing, to diagnose circulation problems, and then we recommend a treatment plan that fits your needs.
Improve your health and your appearance with varicose vein care at one of our offices in Newark or Secaucus, New Jersey. Call us or book a consultation online to get started today.
You Might Also Enjoy…
Understanding the 5 Most Common Types of Heart Disease
Your heart works tirelessly for you day and night, but do you know the warning signs when something is wrong? Learn about the five most common types of heart disease, what they mean for your health, and how to protect your heart.
4 Common Reasons for Needing a Stress Test
A stress test is a valuable tool for evaluating your heart’s performance under physical strain. Understanding what the test reveals and why physicians recommend it can help you feel confident and prepared if your doctor suggests it for you.
Don't Ignore Leg Pain: It Could Be Peripheral Artery Disease
Leg pain that occurs when you’re walking might feel like muscle strain, but it can be a warning sign of something more serious. Peripheral artery disease reduces blood flow to your legs, and recognizing it early helps protect your heart health.
New Year, New You: 5 Resolutions for a Healthier Heart
A new year is the perfect time to set meaningful health goals — and they don’t have to be complicated to be effective. These five heart-healthy resolutions can help you start the year strong and protect your cardiovascular health for the future.
Navigating Holiday Feasts: A Guide to Heart-Healthy Eating
Holiday celebrations often revolve around food — making the season challenge even the most disciplined heart-healthy habits. The good news is mindful choices make all the difference, and here’s how to enjoy the festivities and protect your health.
