One of the most shocking phenomena that we encounter as doctors is denial – patients who know that they have a medical problem, but fail to get treatment for it. Denial causes some patients to not seek medical help in the first place when they first notice symptoms, and causes others to fail to heed their doctors’ advice when told that they need treatment.
At La Bella Vita Laser and Vein Center, we treat patients suffering from both heart problems and venous problems, and we see this kind of denial in both sets of patients. But making health-threatening (or even life-threatening) mistakes is rarer in heart patients – when your doctor tells you that if you don’t get treatment you’ll have a heart attack, most people listen. It’s very different when working with vein health patients. Many of them, when told by a Louisiana vein doctor that they need treatment, walk out the door and we never see them again. In this article we’ll try to explain why this can be a terrible mistake.
Many – possibly most – people don’t take vein disease seriously
Based on misinformation they’ve heard about vein disease, they think, “Varicose veins are just a cosmetic problem, so I don’t really need treatment…I’ll ignore my Mandeville varicose vein doctor’s advice and just live with them.” This can be a mistake because the side effects of varicose veins can become very serious very quickly. Left untreated, varicose veins can cause swelling of the legs and ankles, and pain and weakness in the legs so intense you can barely walk. Continue to try to ignore your varicose veins, and within a few months you can find your legs covered with open, bleeding sores called leg ulcers http://healthsavy.com/product/kamagra/ that refuse to heal.
More important, untreated vein disease cripples your immune system
Even the side effects we discuss above aren’t the real problem when it comes to varicose veins. The real damage is being done to your circulation and to your immune system beneath the surface of the skin, where you can’t see it. Make the mistake of not having your varicose veins treated, and you drastically increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and stroke.
Varicose veins also make you more prone to DVT, which can kill you
If you have varicose veins, you are also more likely to develop deep vein thrombosis, in which blood clots form in the veins of your legs. If these blood clots travel through your veins to your heart, they can cause a stroke, and if they travel to your lungs, they can cause a pulmonary embolism. Both are fatal, and kill 300,000 Americans every year. I think you would have to agree that risking death by rejecting or postponing treatment for your varicose veins is a mistake.
So what should you do instead?
First, seek qualified vein treatment in New Orleans, and then pay attention to what the doctor tells you. If he recommends conservative treatment like weight loss, more exercise, and wearing compression stockings, do it. Failing to do it can cause the escalation of symptoms we discussed above. If your doctor feels that the best treatment is to remove your diseased veins, you should seriously consider it – not just for “cosmetic reasons,” but because it could literally save your life. If you have any questions about any of this, or about your personal medical condition, please give us a call and let us help. That’s what we’re here for.
