I learned today that we have 30,000 MILES of veins in our legs.
I won't bore you with road signs, but to make a longish story shorter, in the long mystery road of tracking down a reason for pain in my calves and feet, I found myself in a vein doc's office three times this week--along with my dear friend Janet who went with me twice for moral and memory support. (That's friendship right there!)
We both are very impressed with Dr. Timothy Straight. He spent about half an hour at each visit explaining what can go wrong with the veins and touching my legs to test for pulses and edema. Then he ordered a ultrasound of my legs. Today we went back for the results.
Most of my miles are fine. There are three trouble spots which could be responsible for the pain, but those veins are relatively superficial. The first step is to wear compression socks-to-thigh every day as a diagnostic. If they help reduce the pain, I can return for an ablation of those veins, done by laser in his office, not surgery!
What causes it? 70% hereditary.
I would never have thought to consult a vein doctor, but Janet did some research online and we went to investigate. A more serious condition is PAD--peripheral artery disease--which I don't have. But for those of you who may have pain in your legs or cramps, you might want to consider checking out the miles of veins you never even think about. Solutions are relatively simple in most cases.
Jan recommended this doc and I highly recommend him to you if you ever need a vein specialist.
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