Personal stories about varicose veins

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Personal stories about varicose veins

These stories are based on information gathered from health professionals and consumers. They may be helpful as you make important health decisions.

Margaret, age 46: Living here in Arizona, I wear shorts and skirts a lot. Several years ago, I stopped trying to keep a tan all the time because of the risk of skin cancer. So now that I don't have that brown skin, you can really see my veins. I also started to wonder if the veins were related to the aching I have sometimes in my legs. I talked to my doctor about it and found out that the aching probably is not related to the spider veins. But I decided to have them treated anyway, because I really don't like the way my legs look.

Carolyn, age 67: My main reason for treating my varicose veins is to relieve the aching and fatigue. My legs are so tired at the end of the day! My doctor said that I could try surgery, but I don't feel like my legs bother me enough to take the risk, even though she says it's a pretty safe surgery. So we talked about some other options, like these special panty hose that compress the leg veins, and about putting my feet up several times a day. And about walking more. Who would have thought that being on my feet more might make my legs less tired?

Diego, age 38: I have several of those long, ropy-looking, twisted blue varicose veins. And my legs are pretty skinny, so they really stand out. I'm not concerned with how my legs look, but I'm a police officer and I'm on my feet all day. At the end of the day, my legs really ache. We talked about treatments like elastic stockings, but in my job that isn't practical. My doctor said that I'm a good candidate for surgery to remove the long veins and that the results should be pretty good.

Suzanne, age 56: I would like to do something about all my varicose veins, but until my youngest daughter gets out of college, we really can't afford it. I also know that treatment sometimes can cause some discoloration or scarring, which I would also like to avoid. So I wear my support hose, elevate my legs, and wear darker hose with my skirts.

Credits

Last updated:	February 11, 2008
Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Reviewed By:	Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine, David A. Szalay, MD - Vascular Surgery
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC