Venous Insufficiency vs. Varicose Veins: What Your Swollen Legs Are Telling You

Swollen legs are easy to blame on a long day. However, when your legs stay swollen, heavy, or achy over long periods of time, or other symptoms surface, you could have a previously undiagnosed vein issue. 

At Apex Endovascular, in Fort Collins, Colorado, Dr. Shawn Ahmed evaluates symptoms like swollen legs and diagnoses conditions like venous insufficiency and varicose veins.

Venous insufficiency versus varicose veins

Venous insufficiency and varicose veins are closely connected, and one condition can contribute to the other, yet they aren’t the same thing. Here’s what you need to know about both conditions and when to have your legs checked.

Venous insufficiency

Your veins carry blood from your legs back toward your heart. Tiny valves keep blood moving in the right direction. When those valves weaken or become damaged, blood pools in your legs. That weakness and backward flow is called venous insufficiency.

Risk factors

Age and family history can increase your risk of venous insufficiency. Obesity, pregnancy, long periods of standing or sitting, previous blood clots, and leg injuries can also affect pressure in your veins.

Dangers

Without treatment, venous insufficiency can worsen rapidly. Ongoing pressure and swelling can cause skin changes, inflammation, and painful sores called venous ulcers.

Symptoms

Swelling around the ankles and lower legs is common. Your legs can feel heavy, tight, itchy, or achy, especially after standing for several hours, and they may cramp at night. The skin around your ankles can also become darker, thicker, or harder. 

Treatment

Compression stockings, regular movement, leg elevation, and weight management can help improve your circulation and relieve symptoms. Minimally invasive procedures like sclerotherapy can close damaged veins and redirect blood through healthier ones.

Varicose veins

Varicose veins develop when blood pools behind damaged valves inside weakened veins. This offshoot of superficial venous insufficiency appears most commonly on the lower legs and around the ankles.

Risk factors

Family history plays a major role in determining your risk for varicose veins. Age, pregnancy, obesity, and spending long periods on your feet also increase your risk.

Dangers

Most varicose veins are simply a cosmetic concern. However, very large varicose veins under a lot of pressure can cause slow-healing leg wounds (ulcers), bleeding, or even lead to blood clots in deeper veins.

Symptoms

Varicose veins usually look blue or purple and appear enlarged or rope-like beneath your skin. Your legs can ache or feel heavy after standing, swell, itch, or cause late-night cramping.  

Treatment

Not all varicose veins require treatment. However, if symptoms like swelling, heat in your legs, or leg ulcers are becoming a problem, it's time for a vascular evaluation to identify the core issue. 

To learn more about reasons for swollen, painful legs, schedule a consultation with the team at Apex Endovascular by calling 970-508-8439 or by booking an appointment online.