Myth 1: Varicose veins are not painful and will not cause any big problems
Wrong! It is true that varicose veins in the lower extremities are not painful or itchy in the early stage, but as the disease progresses, the skin of the lower leg will turn black and even ulcerate in the later stage. In a few cases, they can also be life-threatening, such as rupture and bleeding and formation of blood clots. In normal people, bleeding veins can be stopped with a few minutes of pressure, while varicose veins have high pressure and bleeding can be very heavy and not easy to stop. Because there is no sensation during bleeding, nighttime bleeding is more dangerous. As for thrombosis, if it spreads to deep veins, it may lead to pulmonary embolism.
Myth 2: Varicose vein is saphenous varicose vein
Wrong! Although the majority of varicose veins in the lower extremities are related to saphenous lesions, there are still more than 10% of varicose veins associated with other lesions caused by small saphenous lesions. This is most typical of the large number of post-operative recurrence cases we receive, where the small saphenous vein lesion is missed in a huge majority. Because of the deep location of the small saphenous vein, the lesion is not easily detected, and because it is difficult to reach in the conventional surgical position, it can be easily missed if the surgeon does not perform the ultrasound examination himself before surgery. Moreover, not all doctors know that the patient must be in the standing position during the ultrasound examination of varicose veins!
Also: always routinely check the patient’s abdominal wall for dilated veins. If so, exclude iliac vein stenosis, occlusion or Buga syndrome.
Myth 3: Varicose veins are mostly found in rural areas
Wrong! According to statistics, varicose veins in developed countries can reach 20-30% of the population, which is higher than that in developed and middle countries. The incidence of urban exceeds that of rural areas. And there are more women than men among urban patients. Why do people see mostly rural male manual laborers with varicose veins on their legs? This is because urban people are more conscious of the appearance of their calves and do not easily expose their calves to the public. Also, urban people tend to undergo early surgical treatment once the varicose veins become apparent.
Myth 4: You should walk less if you have varicose veins
Wrong! The calf gastrocnemius is the “second heart” of human body. The rhythmic contraction when walking can promote venous blood flow back. Standing or sitting still for too long can lead to blood stagnation. Walking exercise can promote the return flow.
Myth 5: Varicose veins are hereditary
Wrong! There is no conclusive evidence that varicose veins are hereditary. Because of the high incidence of varicose veins in the population and the tendency of some families to develop them, it is often seen that more than one person in a family develops them.
Myth 6: Varicose veins can be treated by surgery
Wrong! In some cases, varicose veins should not be operated. In the case of blockage of deep veins in the lower extremities, the varicose veins formed are often a compensatory form and cannot be operated. Likewise, some congenital vascular malformations can manifest as varicose veins, but surgery is often not curative and the recurrence rate is high.
Myth 7, varicose veins are simple minor surgery
Wrong! Although varicose vein aspiration, thyroidectomy, and appendectomy used to be classified as basic resident training, the status quo over the years is that more and more varicose vein patients are seeking treatment from specialists. And minimally invasive techniques are proliferating. However, cases of surgical complications occur because of the inexperience of some physicians or lack of preoperative diagnosis. Therefore, varicose vein surgery is highly specialized one and cannot be ignored.
Myth 8: Hot water foot soak can relieve varicose veins
Wrong! Varicose veins are a reflux problem, not a blood supply problem. The increase in temperature during hot water foot soak will dilate the blood vessels and increase the burden of reflux. Therefore, varicose vein patients should avoid hot water foot soak.
Myth 9: Injection of sclerosing agent can cure varicose veins
Wrong! Sclerosing agent is a kind of chemical injected into the veins to artificially cause phlebitis to occlude the veins. However, the root problem of varicose veins is not solved and therefore has a high recurrence rate. Some step medical institutions apply various high-tech names to exaggerate the efficacy and deceive patients. Therefore, injection therapy is mostly used as a supplement and aid.
Myth ten, bloodletting therapy can treat varicose veins wrong!
Veins are a four-way network, and although the patient’s stasis symptoms will be reduced after local bloodletting, the veins quickly return to a full state. In addition, bloodletting will cause an increased probability of hematoma or infection.