Vein Procedure Questions
When it comes to your body, you might have a lot of things you question, but one thing you probably don’t think a lot about is your veins. But you should! Veins are an important part of our bodies. In fact, they are what carry our blood from our heart to our lungs and then it replenishes the lungs and the blood is turned into oxygen for the body. Oxygen inside the body helps give our bodies the nutrients it needs to not only stay healthy, but to also function! Some doctors say that out of the 10 or so internal parts of your body that are the most important, veins are considered to be in the 1-3 most important "parts." When it comes to blood in our bodies, about 90% of the blood is returned to the heart by way of deep veins that lie within the body. There are also other types of veins in your body, they are superficial and connecting. Superficial veins are the ones you can see through your skin. They are the ones that carry blood from our tissue, closer to the surface. Connecting veins on the other hand carry blood from the superficial veins to the deep pains. If you have questions about vein conditions, which could cause health problems continue to read below for the different (common) vein conditions.
Varicose Veins
When it comes to questions about vein conditions, Varicose Veins are one of the most common conditions! These are veins that you sometimes see in older people, but it happens in younger folks too depending on a few different diseases that make these veins protrude more, as well as genetics believe it or not! Varicose veins are those blueish green veins that sometimes protrude out of your skin. Most of the time these appear in your legs, but they can appear elsewhere too. People who suffer from these types of vein issues usually do so because of a family history of the females on the side of the family having them as well. But, these also come into play with women who have NO family history, but they are overweight or they are pregnant - the two do not coincide, and are different issues. Another type of person that gets these types of veins, are people that oftentimes work on their feet a lot including nurses, teachers, etc. These are caused by unhealthy valves in the legs. When the valve breaks or fails, the blood in the leg ends up flowing back to the body and creates pools of blood that gather in the veins. This makes the veins look enlarged and essentially when the blood pools, it creates that blueish green color. As bad as these veins are because they tend to be quite unattractive, they can also cause health issues such as fatigue, burning, swelling, throbbing, etc.
Spider Veins
Another one of the most popular questions about vein conditions, is this: are spider veins and varicose veins the same thing, just named different things? The easy answer: No. The complex answer: Yes, but they are different in a few different ways, we will be going over these ways next. Spider veins for example, tend to be very small and tin veins that can be seen close to the skins surface. These tend to not be the same color as varicose veins, and instead look more reddish in color, though sometimes they can have a blue or green tint to them as well, but it’s more common to see a reddish tint to them. Spider veins do work the same way - there is usually a backup of blood that pools. But, in the case of spider veins, they usually become dead end veins - and these veins are called spider veins because of the jagged edge or cobweb pattern they create. Varicose veins almost always cause a negative issue - pain. Whereas, for the most part, spider veins do not, especially if they are smaller in size, and they are closer to the skin. If spider veins are embedded deeper into the vein tunnels, they can get painful, but this rarely happens, it’s more of a cosmetic issue than anything else.
Deep Vein Thrombosis
When it comes to questions about vein conditions, you probably already know that the word thrombosis in general, is never a good thing! These are veins that are enlarged, sort of like varicose veins, but these types of veins may be a warning sign that something bigger or more serious is underway. In a lot of cases, your body will give you warning signs when something is wrong, and with Deep Vein Thrombosis your body is alerting you that there is an issue such as blood clots. Blood clots at first, might not seem like a big issue, but if untreated, blood clots can cause all sorts of issues in the veins such as swelling, heaviness and pain in the legs, it can also create a thrombosis up into the heart and create heart attacks or stroke, and sometimes it can cause phlebitis - a condition that happens in the legs when veins became inflamed and very painful. Deep Vein Thrombosis or DVT is pretty common these days. Perhaps it has to do with modern lifestyle changes such as eating too much fast food, not eating right, not exercising enough, etc., or it could be more of a genetic issue. Over 600,000 New cases of Deep Vein Thrombosis are reported every year in the US. This Can be a life threatening problem if it breaks off and enters the lungs or heart.
Varicose Veins
When it comes to questions about vein conditions, Varicose Veins are one of the most common conditions! These are veins that you sometimes see in older people, but it happens in younger folks too depending on a few different diseases that make these veins protrude more, as well as genetics believe it or not! Varicose veins are those blueish green veins that sometimes protrude out of your skin. Most of the time these appear in your legs, but they can appear elsewhere too. People who suffer from these types of vein issues usually do so because of a family history of the females on the side of the family having them as well. But, these also come into play with women who have NO family history, but they are overweight or they are pregnant - the two do not coincide, and are different issues. Another type of person that gets these types of veins, are people that oftentimes work on their feet a lot including nurses, teachers, etc. These are caused by unhealthy valves in the legs. When the valve breaks or fails, the blood in the leg ends up flowing back to the body and creates pools of blood that gather in the veins. This makes the veins look enlarged and essentially when the blood pools, it creates that blueish green color. As bad as these veins are because they tend to be quite unattractive, they can also cause health issues such as fatigue, burning, swelling, throbbing, etc.
Spider Veins
Another one of the most popular questions about vein conditions, is this: are spider veins and varicose veins the same thing, just named different things? The easy answer: No. The complex answer: Yes, but they are different in a few different ways, we will be going over these ways next. Spider veins for example, tend to be very small and tin veins that can be seen close to the skins surface. These tend to not be the same color as varicose veins, and instead look more reddish in color, though sometimes they can have a blue or green tint to them as well, but it’s more common to see a reddish tint to them. Spider veins do work the same way - there is usually a backup of blood that pools. But, in the case of spider veins, they usually become dead end veins - and these veins are called spider veins because of the jagged edge or cobweb pattern they create. Varicose veins almost always cause a negative issue - pain. Whereas, for the most part, spider veins do not, especially if they are smaller in size, and they are closer to the skin. If spider veins are embedded deeper into the vein tunnels, they can get painful, but this rarely happens, it’s more of a cosmetic issue than anything else.
Deep Vein Thrombosis
When it comes to questions about vein conditions, you probably already know that the word thrombosis in general, is never a good thing! These are veins that are enlarged, sort of like varicose veins, but these types of veins may be a warning sign that something bigger or more serious is underway. In a lot of cases, your body will give you warning signs when something is wrong, and with Deep Vein Thrombosis your body is alerting you that there is an issue such as blood clots. Blood clots at first, might not seem like a big issue, but if untreated, blood clots can cause all sorts of issues in the veins such as swelling, heaviness and pain in the legs, it can also create a thrombosis up into the heart and create heart attacks or stroke, and sometimes it can cause phlebitis - a condition that happens in the legs when veins became inflamed and very painful. Deep Vein Thrombosis or DVT is pretty common these days. Perhaps it has to do with modern lifestyle changes such as eating too much fast food, not eating right, not exercising enough, etc., or it could be more of a genetic issue. Over 600,000 New cases of Deep Vein Thrombosis are reported every year in the US. This Can be a life threatening problem if it breaks off and enters the lungs or heart.