Wow, never know what will come out of the archives will ya ? LOL !
Well I assume you have a cardio-vascular doctor and are under the care of same, for obvious reasons, as well as everyone being unique health wise etc.
Apparently, there are 2 ways to go about this vein stripping and or the laser, the first one sounded better to me, so I went for it, which is called E.V.L.T.
In my case, my right leg was just giving me fits, pain, restless, lots of discomfort, so I started with the general practitioner, primary care physician.
My job at the time, working at our horse farm was becoming unbearable, and it was jeopardizing my safety, especially when the thoroughbred horses act up or do what horses do, they're actually really good nature'd, well taken care of but after a long winter, not a lot of turn out time, one does need good legs to stand on to deal with them, that and the shoulder issues, and a few other job related injuries or mishaps with the horses, I decided its just not worth the mere bag of shells to do this work at my age with these problems. I'm just over mid 40's in a few weeks, not that old, but a lot of wear as I am finding out. Some background, it really tormented me, as no other work related my background was materializing, darned leg just giving me all kinds of fits, whats it going to be like in 10 years and all that. I figured I had to do something, now so that later on maybe I won't have to deal with it or as much, with more age etc. When I was younger I ran 2x a day, played sports, ran hills, and could do the stack on the old universal leg press, both 550 and 700, 750 if I recall, I could do it repeatedly, funny how age changes things.
I was referred to a cardio vascular doctor, and it was determined by ultra sound that my right leg, deep vein(s) or what have you, the little flappers that act like check valves don't seem to work anymore, this causes blood to pool, and many people will show it visibly with those unsightly weird greenish vein bulges, which are not life threatening or anything to really worry about, well unless they really bother you because of how they look, mine were not like that, could not see them easily, just a couple of spots.
So the ultra sound mapped out what needed to be addressed and the technician did test all the flapper/check valves, seems the right leg had varicose veins, left did not.
Now I had to decide, benefit of this being after some time, was better circulation, EVLT seemed like the better option, less invasive, creepy to think about mind you ... LOL !
So they literally have to mark your leg up for layout, they will have to numb you with local anesthesia from above the ankle to the groin, which was about 36 pokes with a needle, once up once back down. I'm ok with needles but these do hurt a bit given the location so I just had to grit my teeth and bear it, maybe a tad worse than a bad day at the dentist, LOL, but I would still say its bearable, but more pain than a shot in the arm or behind. They send in the laser, and push it to where it needs to be, then they turn it on and as its withdrawn it burns the vein and collapses it, subsequently it is supposed to go away, though the link below states in some cases it can come back. I don't think mine have, though I need to go back for another ultra sound, I'm overdue, and once this is done, you will have to go back at certain intervals for an ultra sound.
When the laser is on, you can taste the burn and smell it, creepy, but subtle. They had me take 1 xanax prior to and I used 800 MG Ibuprofen tablets, 2 at a time to keep the pain down, without these, the following 2 weeks would hurt significantly, I know as I tried to stop taking those early, bad move. It finally stops causing pain in my case it went longer.
I had another issue that I think was and still is the root of my leg pain, they took a ganglion cyst/mass (its extra bone lubricant formed in a sack/vessel) off the top of my foot, was like a 3/8" fuel line weaved into the nerves and all what is on top of the foot, this I think is what the real problem was, I had surgery to remove that, doctor said this was the result of arthritis, and well I am sure that fat ole mare we have that stepped on that foot did not help.
My leg has felt 100% at times, good results from both surgeries, but I think on one side where that mass was they took off, (non malignant ganglion cyst) is coming back at the root in or around the metatarsal, its darned sore and makes my whole leg sore, then almost unbearable until I take 2 of those Ibuprofen 800MG's. which fortunately, one dose of that really works for days or until the next bout of it, must be the anti inflammatory aspect of it. I'm at the juncture where I need to see the orthopedic, foot doctor, who I think did a great job, cripes I met the guy once next time I see him I'm headed to the operating table LOL !
I think the EVLT went well, I don't like the idea of it but thought the improved circulation would be beneficial, I could have left it as is, but when they did the ultrasound, apparently this vein was an extra, so actually my right leg still has the normal veins, some odd thing. I'd like to say my leg is great, but thats clouded by the other thing which as of late is persistent.
email is open, I know this is kind of OT, but for the benefit of others here I do not mind sharing my experience with this. One of the things about the EVLT is that they can rid you of those unsightly bulges of veins, then use the strip procedure for smaller remnants, all out patient procedures, so cosmetically these seem to clean up easily, and the other veins will have better circulation, doctor said you can elect to not do the procedure as its not detrimental to life but...
I was told that I have a propensity for this and arthritis, and that I would have to or should have to wear compression stockings for the remainder of my life. I don't mind those, well they look odd, man wearing pantyhose LOL, but it does feel good and gives support. I decided that a quality pair of tube socks, will do close to the same, so I wear Wig-Wam cotton tube socks that go over the calf, this has benefit to prevent more of these varicose veins, the compression helps with that. Shorter socks with the elastic lower on the calf, that cinches against the calf is no good, and on me they always recede to the ankle, the tube socks work well, but 4-6 months of use, toss em, that and wear good shoes, use orthotics or other aids, all of this is of good benefit and is what I do.
It weighs heavy on my because its debilitating and as of yet, I just have my parents left, I'd be in a really bad spot if ever incapacitated, I don't depend on anyone and if needed I try to keep it to a bare minimum, I could not take knowing someone had to wait on me hand and foot, but realize those with younger siblings, kids, more family will likely have some help or support in later years when health may decline, so I do take my health very seriously and make the best decisions I can, the EVLT was one of those decisions.
