“Ok, you have some varicose veins, but… Do you have venous reflux?”
This question is more important that many people realize. Venous reflux is a common medical problem where the blood traveling in the leg veins “refluxes” or, slides back down the leg veins instead of going upwards, back to the heart. This condition is a result of the ever present force of gravity while we are standing and the fact that age, previous blood clots, pregnancy, and other conditions cause the small valves in the vein to malfunction and allow the blood to slip back downwards, towards the feet. This de-oxygenated blood then pools in the lower leg veins and creates several problems over time. One of the earliest manifestations is varicose veins, which sometimes may be noted as a painful throbbing sensation, because of the pressure of the “old” blood which is pooling in them. Other problems then result over time, such as discoloration of the skin, increased swelling of the surrounding tissue (edema), and ultimately, skin breakdown and chronic sores called venous stasis ulcers. The goal is to prevent these later changes from occurring and treat the reflux early, since it only worsens over time.
So, whenever a provider is examining a patient who has complained of varicose veins, the most important question is whether those veins are the result of venous reflux (bad vein valves). The reason this is so important, is that if the reflux, which is the actual cause of the problem, is not treated, then treated problem veins will recur. We encounter many patients who have previously been treated in a med spa or shopping mall facility where laser or sclerotherapy treatment was performed, but the patients find that their problem veins recur in a few years time. Many of these patients are found to have venous reflux on a comprehensive ultrasound evaluation. Here, at Saltzer vein clinic, patients who are suspected of having venous reflux are screened by a Registered Vascular Ultrasound Technician to find whether or not they have venous reflux. If they do, the underlying reflux is treated with a catheter inserted into the vein using laser or radiofrequency energy. If they do not have reflux, they are usually treated by injecting a sclerosant chemical into the veins or by use of a cutaneous laser for these veins.
As mentioned above, if the patient does have venous reflux, almost all insurers and medicare programs consider this a medical problem and it is covered as such. The patient who chooses Saltzer Vein Clinic benefits from our expertise in treating all sizes of varicose veins as well as the causes of venous reflux and late effects of reflux, such as venous ulcers. Not only do patients benefit from our high tech, comfortable, American College of Radiology approved imaging facility, they also receive care from a board certified surgeon and phycisian assistant. We have invested much more into these resources than most of our competitors. We have multiple options for treatment, all the way from ultrasound guided injection, different laser treatments, radiofrequency treatment, to actual surgery. As you can imagine, having all of these options available means we can tailor the best treatment for each individual patient, instead of “pushing” our patients to be treated with limited options. Just like home or car repair, having the right tool for the job at hand makes all the difference. Now that you know how much we have invested into these resources, you would likely conclude that we charge more than some of the smaller shops in the area. Our costs are cheaper than any of the area vein treatment facilities and I encourage patients to call around and prove this for themselves.
Please visit our website, www.saltzervein.com for more detailed information. Thank you.
Steven W. Williams, M.D., F.A.C.S.
