Varicose veins can be unpleasant to look at, and many individuals who choose to get rid of them through sclerotherapy do so purely for cosmetic reasons.

But they can actually be a health concern, hinting at a painful condition known as venous insufficiency.

What Is Venous Insufficiency?

Essentially, venous insufficiency is when the valves in your leg veins can’t return blood to the heart.

Veins have to work hard to keep circulation function properly. After all, your veins work against gravity — so the further down the foot, the more the vein has to fight gravity’s natural pull.

What causes these valves to stop working? In many cases, it may be a simple case of aging causing veins to lose their elasticity.

Hormonal changes, too, can cause the veins to start functioning improperly. The hormonal changes associated with pregnancy are known to often times cause venous insufficiency, for example.

Achy Feet, and Even a Burning Sensation

If venous insufficiency merely were a cosmetic issue, then that would be one thing. But actually, venous insufficiency can make walking painful — simply because blood pools down in the lower extremities.

Individuals who’ve experienced an achy sensation in their feet, that even feelings like a burning sensation in extreme cases, may very well benefit from sclerotherapy, which causes dysfunctional veins to collapse in on themselves, and leads to more efficient routing of blood through more functional veins.

Venous insufficiency can also lead to slower healing of wounds, again because blood is not circulating properly. This leads to the wound not getting the nutrients it needs to heal.

Therefore, varicose veins might just be one cosmetic symptom on top of a host of underlying and serious issues.

If you have varicose veins, and want to have them checked out today, call the Vein Center of Maryland to schedule an appointment. We are conveniently located in Westminster, Eldersburg, Baltimore, Hunt Valley and Bel Air.

We also service Ellicott City and Columbia in Howard County.