Power walking is among the activities that can help you ward off varicose veins.
What’s the single biggest myth about varicose veins? Jacksonville vein specialist Dr. James St. George of the St. Johns Vein Center says this misconception is at the top of the list:
“Almost invariably, patients and many physicians believe that varicose veins are a cosmetic problem, when in fact, it is a treatable medical condition.
The root cause of varicose veins is weakened or damaged vein valves. Our veins have one-way valves that assist in keeping the blood moving only upward toward our heart. When these valves are compromised due to, genetics, pregnancy, age and jobs that require us to sit or stand for long periods, they become weakened, which allows the blood to pool in our legs and creates varicose veins. While varicose veins are not always 100% preventable there are steps we can take that will delay and lesson the symptoms.
The primary goal is to reduce the pressure on inside your veins and to strengthen your vein walls. Regular cardiovascular exercise like power walking improves muscle tone. When we walk our calf muscles contribute significantly in returning the blood in our legs back up to our heart. If standing or sitting for long periods are unavoidable, invest in a quality pair of compression stockings. Wearing compression stocking while pregnant is also a good preventative measure. Elevating your legs above the level of your heart when relaxing and controlling your weight are also recommended.
Endovenous ablation uses radiofrequency or laser energy to treat varicose veins.
If you have spider veins, varicose veins, swelling, leg pain or changes in the color of your lower legs and feet, Jacksonville’s Dr. James St. George may recommend a treatment called endovenous ablation. This advanced treatment uses heat energy to damage vein tissue, causing scar tissue to form and close the vein. With the vein shut down and no longer able to swell, the ugly blue lumps on your skin – and the pain that comes with them – disappear.
The heat sources used in endovenous ablation come from either radiofrequency or laser energy. Radiofrequency ablation involves using an ultrasound-guided radiofrequency catheter inserted into the abnormal vein. Radio energy heats up the vein’s interior, causing it to scar and close. Endovenous laser treatment is very similar. An optical fiber inserted into the vein and infrared laser light shines into the vein’s interior, causing the vein to contract as the fiber is slowly withdrawn. The procedure is performed in the office on patients of all ages.
Endovenous ablation is minimally invasive and has replaced vein stripping, which involved the surgical removal of veins. Both radiofrequency and laser ablation treatments typically are followed with other non-invasive treatments like sclerotherapy.
Find out if endovenous ablation is the best option for treating your leg pain or varicose veins. Jacksonville’s St. Johns Vein Center specializes in treatment of varicose veins, spider veins and related venous insufficiency conditions. Call 904-402-VEIN (8346) or complete our online consultation scheduling form.
Excercising throughout your pregnancy is one way to help prevent varicose veins and spider veins.
Pregnancy is a joyous time for expectant mothers. But it’s also a challenging time physically and emotionally. Even while celebrating the coming birth of a child, women also bemoan their pregnancies’ long term affects on their bodies, including weight gain, stretch marks, varicose veins and spider veins.
Jacksonville varicose vein specialist James St. George explains why vein conditions are linked with pregnancies and what you can do to minimize or manage them.
“The veins’ job is to pump blood from your extremities back to your heart,” Dr. St. George explains. “But pregnancy makes that job tougher in several ways.”
First, pregnancy boosts the amount of blood that your body creates, which adds to the burden on your veins to begin with. Plus, your growing uterus places pressure on your inferior vena cava, the large vein on the right side of your body, in turn creating even more pressure in your leg veins. Meanwhile, a boost in your progesterone levels causes the walls of your blood vessels to relax.
This overtaxing of your leg veins manifests in varicose and spider veins, caused by a pooling of blood in the veins. They’re marked by bulging, blue or purple lines showing through the surface of the skin and can be painful or itchy. In pregnant women, varicose veins can appear in the legs and the labia. They’re increasingly common in women who have had multiple pregnancies, carry twins or higher multiples, are overweight or stand for long periods of time.
Fortunately, varicose veins often improve within 3-4 months after delivery. We have a variety of treatment options if your vein condition persists. To help prevent or minimize them throughout your pregnancy, the St. Johns Vein Center offers these tips:
Exercise daily throughout your pregnancy. Don’t overdo it, of course. Just a quick, brisk walk around the block can help keep your blood pumping;
Elevate your feet and legs while resting;
Avoid standing or sitting for long periods of time and take quick walking or stretching breaks as often as possible;
Exercise and choose a diet that helps keep your weight within the recommended range for your stage of pregnancy;
Sleep laying on your left side to avoid increased pressure on your inferior vena cava;
Wear graduated compression stockings during the day; This is especially important if you already have vein problems or a family history of vein problems.
If you’re looking to get rid of varicose veins lingering from a prior pregnancy, visit the St. Johns Vein Center. Call 877-640-VEIN (8346) or schedule a consultation online.
Don't let 'em fool you. Celebrities get varicose veins, too. Jacksonville's St. John Vein Center offers tips on keeping your legs red carpet-ready.
It was the thigh shot seen ’round the world. Photos of Angelina Jolie’s somewhat awkward pose onstage and on the red carpet at Sunday night’s Academy Awards broadcast quickly went viral. Yet, they were just another of the leggy snapshots that the movie, music, and television awards seasons produce on a constant basis.
While the Regular Janes of the world long for legs that appear lean, smooth and flawless, it’s important to note that every single one of us – even those whose photos grace the magazine covers – are prone to conditions like spider veins and varicose veins, according to Jacksonville’s Dr. James St. George. In fact, some celebrity habits may even contribute to these unsightly conditions.
“Those impossibly high heels that we see celebrities wear not just on the red carpet, but to the coffee shop and grocery store, are an accomplice to those varicose veins,” he says.
Stars whose snapshots have shown evidence of spider and varicose veins include Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristen Davis of Sex and the City fame, singer Britney Spears and former supermodel Janice Dickinson. In an industry where one’s looks are paramount to success, you can bet that these women and their staff are quickly on top of such issues. So how do they seemingly instantly take charge?
In their off-screen time, top celebrities are focused on taking care of their figures by working out. Aerobic and strength training exercises are a must for both maintaining a lean figure and keeping their blood pumping for a healthy, rosy look. Good circulation helps keep the blood moving upward through the body rather than pooling backwards into the veins and causing the tell-tale blue-tinged vein swelling.
Celebrities and their handlers also stay up to the minute on all the latest techniques and technologies that address cosmetic issues like spider and varicose veins.
If you’re beginning to notice spider veins or varicose veins, Jacksonville’s St. Johns Vein Center can give you the celebrity treatment. Led by Dr. St. George, we specialize in both surgical and non-surgical treatment options for spider veins, varicose veins, blue veins, pelvic and labial varicose veins, leg pain, leg swelling, and restless leg syndrome. To help keep your legs red carpet-ready, call 877-640-VEIN (8346) or use our convenient online email form to schedule a consultation today.
The subject of varicose veins doesn’t typically come up during while whispering sweet nothings in your lover’s ear. No matter. We still think Valentine’s Day is a perfect opportunity to show your legs some love by adopting a lifestyle that will help prevent varicose veins. Jacksonville’s St. Johns Vein Center offers up a few helpful, if not necessarily romantic, tips:
Show your legs some love with tips from St. Johns Vein Clinic.
Get physical: Regular exercise focusing on strengthening your leg muscles and improving circulation. Power walking, jogging, yoga and dancing are great choices that will keep your legs strong and manage your weight, taking pressure off your legs, knees and feet.
Go easy: Give your legs a break from the stilettos. They look great and are fine for an occasional night on the town. But for your day-to-day running, opt for stylish flats or kitten heels instead. High heels keep your calf muscles from effectively pumping blood out of the leg. Plus, the lower heels will help keep those calves curvy and strong.
Give them some TLC: If you stand all day at work, shift your weight from one leg to the other every few minutes and take advantage of your downtime. If possible, elevate your legs while you’re resting. And if you spend most of the day sitting at a desk, use those breaks to move around a bit.
Set a date: If you have signs of varicose veins or spider veins, set an appointment at St. Johns Vein Center in Jacksonville. Varicose veins, spider veins and other venous insufficiency conditions are our specialty. Call 904-402-VEIN (8346) or use our online “Schedule a Consultation” form.
Most insurance companies will cover medically necessary varicose vein treatment. Jacksonville's St. Johns Vein Center offers other payment options as well.
Among the most common questions about varicose vein treatment Jacksonville’s St. Johns Vein Center hears daily is whether the treatment will be covered by insurance. As the economy slowly recovers and patients seek both cosmetic and medical treatment for their varicose veins, spider veins and pelvic or labial veins, insurance and payment options are a top topic in talks with doctors.
The answer depends on several factors. Most insurance companies will cover the cost of the initial consultation and testing. However, further coverage depends on whether your doctor and insurance company deem your treatment medically necessary.
Varicose veins can be uncomfortable and unattractive. If dealt with quickly, they pose no medical threat. However, gone untreated, varicose and spider veins can lead to a more serious condition called venous insufficiency. This is a severe clogging of the blood in the veins that prevents it from returning to the heart. Medical consequences include deep-vein thrombosis (better known as a blood clot). If a clot travels from the leg veins to the lungs, it can block a patient’s lungs and heart from functioning. Severe bleeding infections and sores or skin ulcers also can develop. Most insurance companies cover treatment in such cases.
On the other hand, treatment of spider veins and less severe cases of varicose veins often are considered cosmetic treatments not covered by most health insurance plans. To help patients cover the costs of medically necessary varicose vein treatment, Jacksonville’s St. Johns Vein Center participates with several major medical insurance companies including:
United
Aetna
Medicare
Tri-care
Cigna
Although we do not participate with most HMO plans, the majority of managed health care plans do offer out-of-network benefits and our staff can handle claims filling for you.
Don’t have insurance? St. Johns Vein Center also accepts payment via Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club International and Care Credit. To find out more about payment options and schedule your initial consultation for varicose vein treatment, call 904-402-VEIN (8346).
Compression hose work by applying gradient pressure to the legs, pressing bloodflow upward toward the heart.
Compression hose treatment, also called stocking therapy, is one of the most conservative forms of treatment offered for spider veins and varicose veins. Jacksonville’s St. Johns Vein Center has helped thousands of patients alleviate pain and correct the unsightly cosmetic issues of varicose and spider veins via correctly worn compression hose.
These prescribed stockings work by applying gradient pressure that’s tight on the foot and ankle, then gets less tight toward the knee. This pressure pushes the blood flow upwards toward the heart, so that it’s not able to flow backwards and pool in the veins. That pooling of blood is what causes the veins to swell above the surface, creating unsightly marks. When worn properly, compression hose reduce swelling in the feet and decrease the chance of blood clots forming in the legs. While they won’t cure your varicose veins, they will help nix the swelling, aching and heaviness that accompany the condition.
If you smoke, are diabetic or have a decreased blood supply to the legs, you should not wear compression hose. Outside of taking some getting used to, compression hose have no other known complications in healthy, non-smoking patients. While there are non-prescription stockings on the market, they generally do not apply the right amount or gradient of pressure and are not as effective as those your doctor will prescribe. Prescription compression hose typically range in cost from $50 to $125 and can last for six months to a year when properly cared for. It’s recommended that patients hand-wash and dry their compression stockings to help keep them in great shape.
If you are seeking treatment for spider or varicose veins, Jacksonville’s Dr. James St. George of St. Johns Vein Center can determine whether compression hose or another form of treatment is best for you. Call 877-640-VEIN (8346) to schedule a consultation today.
Your doctor can help you choose the best of three forms of sclerotherapy treatment for spider, bue and varicose veins at Jacksonville's St. Johns Vein Center.
Sclerotherapy is a top choice for many patients seeking relief from spider veins and varicose veins. Jacksonville’s St. Johns Vein Center offers three forms of sclerotherapy, popular because they can be used to effectively treat many different types of venous insufficiencies. Here is a quick overview of each of the three treatments we offer:
Ultrasound Sclerotherapy: This breakthrough varicose vein treatment allows many patients to dodge surgeries that would have been necessary for treatment of hidden veins in the past. With ultrasound guided sclerotherapy, doctors are able to see, via the machine’s external monitor, veins that are otherwise hidden from plain sight. Rather than cutting into a patient, doctors can use ultrasound to pinpoint diseased veins and treat them via injections of sclerosant, which irritates the spider or varicose veins’ lining, causing the blood to clot and the vein to shrink.
Liquid Sclerotherapy: This form of sclerotherapy treatment is also known as injection therapy and is a standard treatment for spider veins, reticular veins (or blue veins) and smaller varicose veins. Your doctor will inject a specially formulated solution inside the affected vein, causing the vein wall to become irritated and inflamed, then scar and close up or shrink. With the diseased vein closed off, healthy blood vessels surrounding it will absorb the extra blood flow.
Foam Sclerotherapy: If you’ve got larger and longer varicose veins, Jacksonville’s St. Johns Vein Center likely will recommend foam sclerotherapy over ultrasound or liquid sclerotherapy treatment. In this form of treatment, a patient’s blood vessel is injected with flam sclerosant drugs that are blended with CO2 and air either inside a syringe or via a mechanical pump. This mixture gives the solution a wider reach than the solution used in liquid sclerotherapy. This mixture displaces blood inside the vein and delivers maximum sclerosant action.
If you need treatment of spider, blue or varicose veins, Jacksonville’s Dr. James St. George, founder of the St. Johns Vein Center, can help you decide which form of sclerotherapy treatment will be most effective. Call 904-402-VEIN (8346) or schedule a consultation online.
