Dignity Health | Be well | Winter 2014 - page 7

Varicose veins
Erase themand reduce your risk
Do
you struggle with varicose and
spider veins? The St. Elizabeth
Center for Vein Care can help.
“Not only can varicose veins be
unsightly and embarrassing, but they
often cause enough pain, aching and
swelling to prevent you fromdoing
what youwant to do,” says Dahlia
Alspaugh, MD, a general, thoracic
and vascular surgeon. “But you don’t
have to live with this condition.”
Varicose veins—commonly known
as venous re ux—and spider veins
are associated with chronic venous
insu ciency (CVI). More than
30 million people in the United
States have undiagnosedCVI.
Certain risk factors make CVI
more likely. They include:
Being a woman
Prolonged standing
Obesity
Multiple pregnancies
Heavy lifting
A family history of the disease
Anunderlying threat
Healthy leg veins contain valves
that open and close to assist the
return of blood to the
heart. Venous re ux
disease develops when
these valves become
dysfunctional and allow
retrograde blood ow by
incomplete valve
closure.
“In the early stages, the blood
pools in your legs, resulting in
varicose veins,” says Dr. Alspaugh.
Other symptoms of venous re ux
disease include:
Restless legs
Heaviness and fatigue
Leg or ankle swelling
Leg pain, aching or cramping
Changes to the leg skin or
burning and itching
Open sores (ulcers)
What a simpleprocedure cando
Fortunately, a newer, minimally
invasive treatment option is now
available at the St. Elizabeth
Center for Vein Care. Let the
specialists at the center
assist and treat you
with an outpatient
procedure that
will not only rid you of varicose
veins, but help prevent your re ux
disease from progressing to a more
serious venous statis disease—and
the risk for venous ulcers—as well.
Among its many bene ts, the
procedure:
Is done on an outpatient basis
Results in relief of symptoms
within 48 hours
Allows you to resume your nor-
mal activities within a few days
Has proven results with
positive patient outcomes and
experiences
Kick those varicose veins to the curb.
To learn how we can help, visit our website
at
redbluff.mercy.org/veincare
, or call us
at
888.628.1948
to speak to a specialist.
888.628.1948
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