Varicose Veins Symptoms

The condition in which the veins get abnormally twisted (tortuous) and dilated (swollen) is called varicose veins. The situation of the varicose veins is usually very near the surface of the skin. Many a times it is seen just beneath the skin. Varicose veins with reference to veins that are very small is called Spider veins or thread veins. This is different from varicose veins because this abnormality is within the different layers of the skin and its treatment can be more difficult.

Varicose veins are just considered by many people to be a minor disorder, so much so that hardly does anyone care about its treatment. The treatment to varicose veins is given very less priority. There are people who are concerned about it.

Usually there are no symptoms indicating varicose veins but the patient may be just complaining about tension or heaviness in the legs.

The various symptoms indicating varicose veins include the feeling of aching, swelling, cramps, restless legs and itching.  When the patient stands for long the symptoms worsen.   The other circumstances when the symptoms worsen and result in acute pain are hot weather, exercise and especially during periods and pregnancy in women. The problem of varicose veins becomes more prominent, worst and acute in pregnant women. 

In most of the females, after the birth of the baby the problem of varicose veins settles. The symptoms of varicose veins are not specific and it is usually difficult to correlate the acuteness of the symptoms with the acuteness of the disease. Usually it is seen that varicose veins do not get complicated but one cannot be sure, there can be serious consequences like:

Superficial Thrombophlebitis: When the varicose veins deteriorate to inflammation of the veins the situation is called Superficial Thrombophlebitis. Adverse conditions such as pain, tenderness, hotness, reddish color and even blood clots prevail in the superficial varicose veins. The time required for resolving this could extend to weeks.

Around one fifth of the patients suffering from knee phlebitis usually suffer from thrombosis in the deep veins. This is also called Deep Venous Thrombosis or DVT.

There have been cases when the resolution of the severe knee phlebitis has resulted in the disappearance of varicose veins. It is always better to get assessed by a vascular surgeon to ensure that everything is normal.
The symptoms of varicose veins are:

• brown discoloration of the skin at the ankle
• varicose eczema
• Liposclerosis a condition in which the tissue around the varicose veins thickens.

Acute varicose veins lead to development of ulcers in the skin above the ankle and this is also called varicose ulceration.

One of the rare symptoms of varicose veins is bleeding that usually takes place from superficial venous blebs in the skin but this is relatively uncommon for large bulbous type of varicose veins.