Venous Disorders
More than 80 million Americans suffer from venous disorders. Disorders can range from unsightly spider veins to completely blocked major veins. Venous disorders are often under-appreciated and untreated, leaving people to suffer needlessly. At South Coast Vein Care we specialize in all Venous Disorders including:
- Varicose Veins
- Spider Veins
- Venous Perforator Disease
- Chronic and Acute DVT
- Ovarian or Spermatic Venous Reflux Disease
- Blocked Pelvic and Chest Veins
- Venous Malformation
Varicose Veins
Varicose veins are enlarged veins that often appear ropey and look blue or red. There is often a family history of varicose veins. They also frequently affect pregnant, people of Hispanic ethnicity, people who stand a lot. Varicose veins are caused by unhealthy valves inside the veins. When these valves fail or leak, they can no longer pump blood to the heart. The blood pools back down in the veins of the legs and causes them to become "varicosed".
Aside from their unpleasant appearance, other side effects of varicose veins include pain, fatigue, itching, burning, swelling, cramping, restlessness and throbbing, which worsen over time.
Our physicians use both endovenous laser treatment (ELT) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to treat varicose veins.
Spider Veins
Spider veins are tiny veins that can be seen very close to the skin's surface. They are actually within the layers of the skin. They can appear like red, blue, or purple spider webs.
For spider vein treatment, our physicians utilize a procedure called sclerotherapy.
Venous Perforator Disease
Varicose veins are caused by a number of different reasons. One of the most important factors in appropriately treating varicose veins is determining the actual cause of the abnormal veins. Varicose veins can be caused by reflux of the superficial veins in the leg, or by what is called an 'incompetent' perforator. Perforating veins allow blood to flow from the superficial veins in the leg to the deep veins in the leg. If these veins become diseased, varicose veins can form.
Perforator disease can be treated in the same fashion as varicose veins, with ELT and US guided sclerotherapy.
Chronic and Acute DVT
DVT stands for deep venous thrombosis and essentially means clot within the deep veins. The traditional approach to treatment of DVT is the use of blood thinners to prevent enlargement of the clot found within the deep vein, but the clot that is already in the vein is not removed. Over time, our bodies can slowly dissolve the clot and sometimes restore normal blood flow through the vein, but often the vein becomes permanently blocked and damaged. This can lead to leg swelling, skin discoloration, and venous ulcerations.
At South Coast Vein Care, our physicians can treat DVT's with an FDA approved technique, which dissolves the thrombus or clot during one or two outpatient treatments. These treatments are performed via an endovascular approach using just a large IV placed below the clot and the use of 'clot busting' medications placed directly into the vein and the clot. This helps prevent long term damage to the vein.
Ovarian or Spermatic Venous Reflux Disease
Varicocele or Spermatic Venous Reflux Disease is an extremely common entity, present in 15% of the male population. Varicoceles are found in approximately 35% of men with primary infertility but 75%-81% of men with secondary infertility. In Ovarian Venous Reflux Disease, the valves in the pelvic veins fail to work properly, allowing blood to flow backward down into the pelvis. Gravity causes the blood to pool, stretching and enlarging the veins and causing dull pelvic pain, pressure and heaviness.
Blocked Pelvic and Chest Veins
Patients with chronic deep venous thrombosis (DVT), previous or ongoing cancer, or patients with radiation to the chest or pelvis, can develop blockages within their large, deep veins. These blockages in pelvis can lead to chronic swelling and pain in the legs. Blockages of chest veins from lung cancer or other diseases can cause chronic swelling of the face and arms.
Venous Malformation
Vascular malformations are soft, blue compressible plaques and nodules that may occur on any skin surface. They usually appear at birth and enlarge slowly over time. Vascular malformations may be very small and of little concern while very large lesions can be disfiguring and may be complicated by thrombosis (clotting), infection and edema of surrounding tissue.