Are you always feeling tired or suffer from chronic fatigue, even after getting a full night’s sleep of 7-8 hours? The issue may not in fact be causes by a lack of REM sleep or other sleep disorder, but as the result of a condition called Venous Insufficiency, or vein disease which is actually caused by a lack of blood flow in the veins and capillaries in your legs.
Other symptoms of vein disease you may experience while sleeping or throughout the day includes: cramping, itching, always feeling cold, or numbness or tingling in your feet, legs or hands.
Image Source: Flickr
What is Venous Disease?
What is Vein Disease? Venous Insufficiency is the result of insufficient blood flow from your lower extremities back up to your heart and brain. The blood pools in your, and due to obstructions in your veins, this prevents a sufficient amount of vital oxygenated blood from circulating upward from your legs to your heart and brain to nourish your body.
This can result in you feeling tired often, chronic fatigue, cold, having bouts of mental fogginess, cramping and thus unsightly varicose veins. Chronic fatigue is one of the most undiagnosed symptoms of venous insufficiency.
If you have any of these symptoms of vein disorder, you should contact a vein surgery specialist at https://www.usaveinclinics.com/ for a consultation. With modern medical advancement in venous disease, there now several FDA approved non-invasive venous insufficiency treatments available, and you can be back to your normal routine in a few days, versus 5 to 6 weeks recovery with tradition painful surgical procedures for varicose veins, such as vein stripping.
Is Vein Disease Just for Seniors?
If you think varicose veins or other forms of venous insufficiency are reserved for people over 50, then think again. It is a myth that venous diseases are reserved for an older age people; while the risk increases after age 50, young adults even in their 30’s can indeed develop vein disease, too, especially if vein disease or circulatory issues are hereditary or the person has a sedentary lifestyle.
While varicose veins and spider veins are the most commonly reported symptoms of veinous insufficiency, there are several symptoms of vein disease, such as tiredness, heaviness in your legs, swelling, aching pains, burning, itching, and cramps, for example, you might attribute to other physical or health issues rather than vein disease and simply take an Over-the-counter (OTC) pain medication.
If your leg cramps or other issues persist or returns frequently, you’ll want to contact a venous insufficiency treatment specialist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of the various vein disorders, as avoiding or delaying treatment can lead to potentially life-threatening health issues.
More than 80 million Americans suffer from venous disease, a medical condition that can lead to further health problems if ignored.
While there are several vein disease treatment options, USA Vein Clinics specializes in non-surgical vein treatment options, rather than painful vein stripping, so you can get back to your daily routine faster than with other venous disease treatment options, which can require hospitalization, painful invasive treatments and lengthy recovery time of 3-6 weeks.
Common Types of Vein Disease
Spider veins:
Those are small, dilated superficial veins (also known as telangiectasia). They may be located in different areas of the leg. When found on thighs, they mostly represent just an esthetic problem. However, when located at the ankle, they may represent a serious venous insufficiency.
Varicose veins:
Varicose veins are the sign of a more serious venous disease. A varicose vein is a dilated, elongated or twisted vein due to a defective valve, which prevents normal blood flow from the veins in the legs back to your heart as blood circulates through your body. As a result, the blood in these veins flows backward. This circulatory system condition is known as blood reflux.
Varicose veins can be painful, or on the contrary totally painless. They are most often found on foot, the calf, the thigh or on the entire leg, and are often blue or red in color.
Vericose veins can appear as innocuous small thread-like marks on the leg up to large bulging venous clusters under the skin on the leg.
While often considered a cosmetic issue in the early stages, if not treated varicose veins can lead to serious health complications.
Edema:
Edema is the medical term for swelling.
Edema of the foot and the ankle occurs when the blood stagnates in the superficial and deep veins in the lower part of the leg, and is unable to properly circulate back to the heart.
The capillaries can no longer play their role. Water and waste build up in the skin in the lower leg and induce a venous edema (swelling of the foot and the ankle). However, not all edemas are of venous origin.
What Causes Vein Disease
Chronic venous insufficiency, or CVI, occurs when the veins in your legs become blocked or damaged due to faulty valves and cannot pump blood back to your heart.
The blood pools in the veins in your lower leg or leaks out around the valves, thus damaging the surrounding tissue. You may experience symptoms, like swollen legs, itching, varicose veins, leg ulcers and pain in your legs and feet.
If you are experiencing leg pain, tiredness even after receiving 7-8 hours of sleep, heaviness feeling, cramping or swelling,
Symptoms of Venous Insufficiency
- Aching pain
- Easily tired legs
- Leg heaviness
- Swelling in the legs
- Heavy feeling in legs
- Frequent leg cramps
- Changes in skin color
- Numbness or tingling feeling in the legs
- Itching or irritated rash on the legs
- Restless Leg Syndrome
Venous Insufficiency Treatment Options
USA Vein Clinics offers various surgical and non-surgical vein disease treatment options, such as:
- Endovenous Laser Therapy (EVLT) – this is an FDA approved non-surgical treatment for the permanent elimination of superficial venous insufficiency. This is a popular non-surgical treatment for the removal of varicose veins. Image Source
- Injection Sclerotherapy Vein Treatment – this vein disease treatment was developed in the 1930’s and used for the removal of Telangiectasias, which are small flat red vessels and Reticular veins.
These are popular outpatient treatment options performed at the clinic, and patients are generally able to resume normal activities within days versus weeks with traditional surgical options for vein disease.
Possible Complications if Left Untreated
Left untreated, varicose veins can expected to enlarge and worsen. As a result, the symptoms vein disease will become more severe.
Additional health problems can result. These include:
- Severe venous insufficiency, a severe pooling of blood in the veins that slows the return of blood to the heart. This can lead to condition can cause deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.
- Sores or skin ulcers.
- Ongoing irritation, swelling and painful rashes on the legs.
Conclusion
Venous Insufficiency can be a troubling health issue if not diagnosed or treated. With the advancement in cardiovascular surgery, both in hospital and in an outpatient clinic, the issues related to vein disease, such as chronic tiredness and fatigue can be diagnosed and treated painlessly and quickly allowing the patient to resume a normal, healthy and active life in a matter of days rather than weeks.
Due to diet and lifestyle changes, a disease once reserved for senior citizens is rapidly impacting the lives of young people in their 30’s, impacting sleep, causing pain in legs and limbs.
The good news is the medical community is helping to reverse this trend.
You can learn more about Venous Insufficiency and the treatment options here.
Ken Weiss is a health blogger who is passionate about natural and holistic cures for men’s health issues. He is the founder of menshealthcures.com
