Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI)
CVI is a progressive disease of the valves in the veins of the leg. When those valves are diseased, blood pools in the legs causing pain, swelling, fatigue and restless legs.
The Cleveland Clinic estimates that 40 percent of people in the United States have CVI. It occurs more frequently in people over age 50, and more often in women than in men.
The Progression of Venous Disease
Chronic Venous Insufficiency is a progressive disease that can have a devastating impact. Treatment stops it in its tracks.
Don’t allow your vascular conditions to progress. Visit us to have our expert team evaluate your condition to stop the progression of vein disease.
What is Chronic Venous Insufficiency?
Healthy leg veins are designed to allow blood to flow against gravity from the legs back toward the heart. Tiny valves inside the veins open and close to help control the flow and pressure.
CVI is a progressive disease of the valves in the veins of the leg. These valves regulate blood flow back to the heart. When they are diseased blood pools in the legs causing pain, swelling, fatigue, and restless legs.
CVI occurs when stresses on the venous system – like pregnancy, age or standing for long periods of time weaken the vein structure and the valves break down.
When the veins become weakened or diseased, vein valves no longer promote efficient blood flow and blood pools in the legs.
This impaired blood flow (or reflux) causes veins to expand, lose form and protrude from beneath the skin. This causes varicose veins, swelling, and the symptoms described above.
How a refluxing vein fails
A healthy vein’s valve closes to keep blood moving toward the heart. In a diseased vein the valve no longer closes, so blood falls back and pools — the reflux an ultrasound is looking for.
What it looks like as it advances.
The same underlying problem — a valve that no longer closes — shows up differently depending on how long the pressure has been building.
Spider Veins
CosmeticFine red or blue lines just beneath the surface, most often on the thigh, calf or ankle. They do not bulge and they usually cause no symptoms. On their own they are a cosmetic concern — but they can be the first visible sign that pressure in the leg is rising.
Reticular Varicose Veins
Feeding veinsLarger blue-green vessels sitting deeper than spider veins, often feeding them. Aching, itching or a burning feeling can start here. Their presence means the problem is no longer confined to the surface.
Venous Nodes
BulgingVeins that visibly bulge and rope above the skin. Bulging means the vein is under pressure and something is going on inside the leg — this is the point at which an ultrasound is necessary, because the cause is deeper than what is showing.
Venous Insufficiency
The leg changesSustained pressure starts to affect the leg itself: swelling that worsens through the day, heaviness, restless legs, and skin that darkens, dries or hardens near the ankle. These changes tend to persist once they appear.
Venous Ulcers
Skin breakdownThe skin breaks down and an open wound forms, usually near the ankle. Venous ulcers are slow to heal and tend to return while the reflux underneath is left untreated. This stage needs prompt medical attention.
It does not stay where it is
Venous insufficiency is progressive. The valves do not repair themselves, so the pressure that caused today's symptoms is the same pressure that drives the next stage. What starts as a cosmetic complaint can become swelling, then skin damage, then a wound that will not close.
Treating the diseased vein addresses the cause, which is what stops the progression.
- Reflux does not resolve on its own — the valve does not recover
- Each stage builds on the pressure of the one before it
- Skin discoloration and hardening tend to persist once they appear
- Ulcers recur while the underlying vein is untreated
Symptoms of vein disease.
Any one of these is worth an evaluation — they rarely arrive alone.
- Fatigue
- Cramping
- Restless legs
- Varicose veins
- Itching
- Heaviness
- Open sores
- Swelling
- Aching
- Skin changes
- Numbness
- Tingling
- Wounds
Risk factors.
You cannot change all of these. That is why the ones you can matter.
- Family history
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Trauma
- Prolonged standing
- Obesity
- Excess weight
- Current or previous pregnancy
- Smoking
In their own words.
Get evaluated
An ultrasound in our IAC-accredited facility identifies which veins are troubled, and the plan follows from what it finds — including what your insurance covers.