Why Do I Have Varicose Veins and How Can I Get Rid of Them?

Varicose veins — those ropey, bulging veins that typically develop in your legs — are a common problem in the United States, affecting more than a third of the population. While you may find some comfort in the fact that you’re not alone, these numbers don’t help you resolve the issue — which is where we come in.

At Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine, we’re pleased to feature a board-certified vein specialist on our team, rounding out our comprehensive services when it comes to musculoskeletal problems. As many of our Ramsey, New Jersey, patients have discovered, we’re able to quickly dispatch with your varicose veins using the most advanced techniques available.

If you’d like to explore why you’ve developed varicose veins and, more importantly, how we can get rid of them, read on.

Backing up

Believe it or not, your blood makes a round trip to your heart every minute, which pumps at an amazing pace of 83 gallons per hour. When your heart pumps your blood, it sends it out through your arteries, which deliver the nutrients and oxygen your body needs. Once delivered, your blood makes a return trip to your heart through your veins to pick up more supplies, as it were.

For the veins located in tricky areas like your legs, where distance and gravity make the return trip a little more difficult, your veins are equipped with one-way valves that shut off as blood goes through, preventing it from pooling backward. If these valves start to fail, your blood gathers and your veins swell, pushing them toward the surface of your skin, which is what creates varicose veins.

While this is the mechanical reason behind varicose veins, the reasons why you may be developing this type of valve malfunction include any of the following:

• Age
• Hormonal changes in women
• Pregnancy
• Occupations that keep you on your feet for long hours
• Obesity
• Family history

These risk factors are the most common culprits behind varicose veins and they may lead to larger problems with venous insufficiency.

In most cases, varicose veins present a cosmetic concern, but they can also lead to an achy and dull feeling in your legs and problems with ulcers. To remedy all of these issues, we offer several solutions.

Saying goodbye to varicose veins

If you’d like to get rid of your varicose veins, we offer effective solutions at Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine, including:

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) treatments 

With this minimally invasive treatment, we use a catheter to deliver radiofrequency energy into your varicose veins to close them off, rerouting your blood to healthier vessels. We perform the RFA treatments right in our office on an outpatient basis, which means you’re free to go home in about an hour.

Sclerotherapy

With this treatment, we inject saline (or a similar solution) directly into your vein, which causes the vein to swell and close down. Again, your blood then reroutes itself to nearby vessels and your treated vein eventually disappears. This procedure is also performed on an outpatient basis and takes under an hour.

If you’d like to learn more about getting rid of varicose veins, please give us a call at 201-962-9199 or use our easy online scheduling tool to set up a consultation.