My Varicose Veins Hurt: What Are My Treatment Options?

Your adult body contains more than 60,000 miles of blood vessels. That gives your vascular system plenty of pathways to circulate blood, oxygen, and nutrients throughout your body. 

That’s good news when you have varicose veins. Because your body has so many other routes it can use, you don’t necessarily need that problem vein. As a result, if it’s hurting you, we can help you get rid of it. 

At Vascular & Interventional Associates in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, our team offers a variety of varicose vein treatment options to people throughout northern Kentucky and the Cincinnati, Ohio, area. A lot of our patients come to us because they don’t like the way a varicose vein looks. But if yours causes you discomfort, it’s time to take action. 

Painful varicose veins

Varicose veins don’t always cause pain. In some cases, you can have this problem vein but not feel it at all. 

But if you have an achy, heavy-feeling fatigue in your legs, you’re getting muscle cramps, or you have swelling in your feet or ankles, a varicose vein could be to blame. That’s true even if you can’t see the vein. You can get varicose veins far enough inside your legs that you can’t spot the bulging blood vessel from the surface.

What are varicose veins, and why do they sometimes hurt? These veins develop because the valve in them isn’t working properly. 

Your blood vessels should carry blood in one direction. But if their valve fails, blood can flow backward. This causes the twisting, bulging vein you probably picture when you think of varicose veins.

The blood flow issue can cause inflammation and even blood clots in the vein, resulting in pain. In other words, by the time a varicose vein causes discomfort, that blood vessel is seriously compromised. 

Treating your varicose veins 

Fortunately, our team can help you find relief by eliminating the problem vein. You don’t need this vein — in fact, you’re better off without it. Remember that your body has tens of thousands of miles of other healthy blood vessels it can use. 

To get rid of the varicose vein, we apply treatment to seal it shut. Once it stops transporting blood, your body slowly absorbs it. As a result, this treatment doesn’t just ease your discomfort — it can also reduce the visibility of varicose veins. 

We use a Doppler ultrasound to evaluate varicose veins. This allows us to recommend the right treatment. To close up a troublesome vein, we might use:

• Endovenous laser ablation
• Radiofrequency ablation
• Ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy

Alternatively, if you’re not a candidate for those options, we can perform a microphlebectomy. This means we physically remove the vein. 

All of these treatment options eliminate painful varicose veins. To find out which is right for you so you can get relief, call Vascular & Interventional Associates or request an appointment online today.