Venous insufficiency is a condition where you have faulty valves within the veins. So our veins are meant to carry the blood back from our legs to our heart and lungs. And on the way, there’s these little valves that keep the blood moving in the right direction. And if you have problems with those valves, you have what’s called venous insufficiency, what we might more commonly think of is varicose veins. They’re usually seen on the legs, but the can occur in other parts of the body. The venous system goes through the whole body. So another area that we will often see them is we can see them in the groin area. Women will often notice them there after pregnancy. And sometimes we can even see them on the abdomen.
So venous insufficiency and varicose veins usually results in these tired, achy, heavy legs. Sometimes you’ll actually see the veins bulging out, so you’ll see those ropy veins. Other times you’ll see discoloration, like a brownish discoloration, reddish discoloration. Sometimes the feet will even look a little bit blue. And then there’s some other symptoms, like restless legs, that people don’t always associate with venous disease. But you can get restlessness and skin changes as well.
So when we’re thinking about health problems from this, we’re thinking about blood clots in the surface veins or damage to that skin or ulceration. And then of course it affects the quality of life, if you’re spending your time with these heavy, achy legs. They might hold you back from doing things that you would normally do.
The first step in treating venous insufficiency and varicose veins is having an ultrasound to determine which veins are faulty. Once we determine that, we’re able to work with the patient and pick the best type of treatment.
One of the newer treatments that we’re quite excited about is VenaSeal, which is actually adhesive glue that is used to seal down the vein. This procedure is performed by the patient first coming to the office and having an ultrasound. We pick the right spot in the vein, and then we use a little bit of numbing medication. Once the numbing medication has been put in, an IV is inserted. And through this IV we’re able to put a tiny tube and actually release glue to seal down this vein. And the best part about it is it’s all done under ultrasound. That way we know that it’s safe and everything is being put just where it should. At the end of this procedure, the patient has a Band-Aid placed where the IV was, and they really don’t have to wear a compression sock because the glue seals down immediately. So the patients can walk out of the office with just that Band-Aid in place. There is some discomfort in some patients postoperatively, but it’s usually very mild, a bruise or a little bit of an ache. And they usually go right back to work and go about their normal activities.
One of the great things about Spectrum Health is that we are an accredited site, which means we hold ourselves to the highest quality standards when it comes to caring for our patients. We also do not require referrals. Patients are welcome to have referrals from their primary care, but they can also just call and answer some screening questions over the phone with us, and a referral is not required.
The majority of the treatments we do are minimally invasive, which is great. It means that patients can come here, have all their testing, their consultation, and their treatment done right in the office. Often they can go right back to work the same day. And these are really procedures that are meant for patients to be able to drive themselves to and from, not requiring sedation. So these are really considered ambulatory or walk-in procedures, which is very nice. We all have busy lives that we want to get back to.
Recovery is pretty easy after the large majority of procedures, meaning minimal discomfort, mild bruising, maybe the use of compression socks. At Spectrum Health Vein Center, we’re really proud to be able to offer a wide variety of treatments. And the reason we do this is it really lets us tailor the treatment to the individual patient. For example, we have radio frequency ablation, VenaSeal, Verithena; all these technologies can be used to treat the same anatomy, but might be better for one patient over the other, based on their lifestyle or what they’re trying to get out of the procedure. So I really think that it’s a great benefit to have all these technologies in the same space so that the patient can really be involved in the decision as to what treatment’s best for them.
