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The Stages Of Vein Disease & When To Take Action in Middle Tennessee

Those tiny spider veins on your legs are the very first signs that your circulation may be at risk. You can ignore them, but don’t think they will go away on their own. The hard truth is they will only get worse. That’s exactly why knowing the stages of vein disease & when to take action is essential.

Chronic Venous Insufficiency

Vein disease is known as chronic venous insufficiency, or CVI. It is a progressive disease, which means it won’t get better on its own. In fact, it will only get worse if not treated. The veins which are visible on the surface of the legs are the symptoms of this underlying vein disease, and it has very predictable stages.

It occurs when the tiny one-way valves in our veins malfunction. Instead of the valves closing after allowing blood to flow to the heart, they don’t close properly and some blood flows backwards. That is what causes the swelling and bluish veins to appear.

Vein Disease Stages

Stage One

Spider veins appearing on legs is a sign of stage one CVI. These small reddish purple veins can be found on the legs, ankles, face and other areas. They are not all necessarily related to varicose veins, but are caused by CVI. Spider veins are more common in women.

Stage Two

With this stage, visible and bulging veins begin to appear. If you run your hand over your leg without looking, you will be able to feel them. This is accompanied by itching, burning and numbness. You may also have tired and achy legs.

This is the time to contact Surgical Alliance of Middle Tennessee before the disease progresses any further.

Stage Three

Swelling of the legs and ankles is the hallmark of this stage. Elevating your legs may help with the symptoms, but treatment is needed to stop the progression.

Stage Four

Without any treatment, by stage four you can expect changes in your skin color and texture. Areas of your legs can look reddish-brown or white. In addition, your skin can be brittle and vulnerable to injury.

Stage Five

Once the disease reaches stage five, you will notice that scratches or injury to the brittle skin may heal the ulcers but will leave scars.

Stage Six

In this final stage, any injury to your skin and leg ulcers will not heal, and you can be left with multiple bleeding ulcers. Chronic leg ulcers that remain open can induce bacteria and lead to infections.

Naturally, being treated early for this vein disease will eliminate some of the worst symptoms and later stages of the disease.

Vein Disease Treatment

Venclose procedure (formerly called VNUS Closure), or endovenous radio-frequency ablation, is used to treat vein disease. We have chosen this procedure because it is clinically proven to be an effective means of treating varicose veins and their underlying cause, venous reflux. It is a minimally invasive procedure with less pain and less bruising compared to traditional vein stripping surgery and laser treatment.

Using the Venclose system, physicians close the diseased or damaged vein. This is done by inserting a catheter into a vein and heating the vein wall using temperature-controlled radio-frequency energy. Heating the vein wall causes collagen in the wall to shrink and the vein to close. After the vein is sealed shut, blood naturally reroutes to healthy veins and the body dissolves the closed vein over time.

The procedure is done in the office, takes about 15 minutes, and patients walk away from the procedure and typically return to their normal activities within a day.