Too Many Pounds Can Cause Too Many Vein Problems

Answering yes to the question ‘Do you want fries with that?’ can have a devastating effect on your health.  Obesity has become such an epidemic that it’s currently estimated just shy of 2 billion people in the world are overweight.  This trend, sadly, is rising.  People are eating way more than recommended serving portions, especially when dining out.  And with more people sitting at computers than running around the block, the pounds just pile on.  When a person carries extra weight, it really puts a great amount of pressure on the body, and it takes a tremendous pounding.  The legs take the worst beating, which can result in a slew of medical problems, and sometimes, when left untreated, even death.   One of these leg problems is called venous insufficiency, and it relates to bad veins.

Obesity can sometimes cause certain vein problems, such as venous insufficiencies and varicose veins, and most definitely exacerbates them if a patient already suffers from these issues.  Dr. Krikorian of St. Louis makes treating these issues a priority, before the vein problems develop into life-threatening areas.   When venous insufficiency or varicose veins go left untreated, especially in obese patients, it can lead to some very serious problems, such as sores on the skin, leg ulcers, bleeding, and Deep Vein Thrombosis.  When leg ulcers become too severe, or do not get treated, it affects the circulation in the leg, and often a skin graft may have to be performed on the damaged tissue.  Deep Vein Thrombosis is extremely dangerous, and can create a blood clot, which if travels to the lungs, is almost always fatal.

Obesity vs. Vein Problems – A Vicious Cycle

As the obesity trend continues to increase, so will vein problems.  Losing the extra weight can definitely release the pressure on the legs.  Exercise is highly recommended to stimulate the dropping of pounds, which will lessen the symptoms your vein problems are causing, such as swelling, discoloration of the skin, itching and burning, nighttime leg cramping and restless legs, and of course, the pain.  The problem here, however, is the pain these patients are experiencing is the very thing that makes exercising too difficult to participate in.  Dr. Krikorian, the leading St. Louis Vein Doctor,  offers many non-invasive procedure options to treat venous insufficiency and varicose veins.

Up until 2000, the only way to treat deep varicose veins was with compression hose or vein stripping, which is an invasive and very painful procedure.  The treatments Dr. Krikorian of St. Louis uses to remove varicose veins are done right in his office.  These treatment options, including Sclerotherapy, and Radio Frequency Ablation, two of the more commonly used, result in only minimal pain or discomfort, and require no downtime.  After these treatments, obese patients will no longer suffer from the agonizing pain that used to prevent them from exercising.  Once an exercise program is established, the extra weight can be dropped, and vein problems can become a thing of the past.