Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/244291
Keeping Your Get-Up-And-Go: Varicose Veins More Than A Cosmetic Issue Maybe their mom told them the unsightly veins were just part of aging. Or maybe they knew someone who tried to battle the bulging, wormlike veins with surgery, regretting it to this day. Whatever their reason, many people are quietly and wrongly suffering with varicose veins, doctors say. Unlike their thin, spider-vein cousins, varicose veins can cause life-altering pain. And whereas spider veins are a cosmetic issue, varicose veins are a physical malfunction: One-way valves responsible for sending blood back up to the heart stop working, allowing blood to pool in the legs. "Even a couple of varicose veins indicates someone has venous disease and should be evaluated," says Dr. Lucy Esberg, a vascular medicine cardiologist with The Medical Center of Aurora. Treatments today are minor compared with the "vein-stripping" surgery of the past, which was painful and required long recovery times, so there's no reason to suffer with the embarrassment and the pain, Esberg says. Often, patients are plagued by burning, itching and a feeling of heaviness in the legs, says Dr. Jillian Ciocchetti of North Suburban Medical Center. Ablating the troubled veins, either through laser or another heat source, has become standard, with treatments generally under two hours and recovery less than a day, Ciocchetti says. Both doctors note that Medicare requires an attempt with compressionstocking treatment for three months before allowing surgical coverage. "So go to your doctor," Esberg says. "Don't wait." "Even a couple of varicose veins indicates someone has venous disease and should be evaluated." 16 Pelvic Prolapse Secret Sufferers Have Solutions Its name might sound benign, but for many women suffering pelvic prolapse, it's embarrassing, frightening and profoundly life-altering. Worst of all, many of these often baby-boomer-aged women become reclusive, not knowing there's help, HealthONE experts say. The disorder results when lax pelvic muscles from aging, childbearing, smoking, genetics or excess weight allow the bladder, uterus or rectum to bulge into the vaginal area. It is not often talked about but affects many women, resulting in more than a third of hysterectomies today, says Dr. Stephen Volin, OB/GYN with North Suburban Medical Center. "Most women just live with it," Volin says. "They just stay at home (often because of associated incontinence). They can't exercise. They can't enjoy their children and grandchildren. Sexual relations become a problem." Symptoms can include: feelings of pressure, looseness or bulging in the vaginal area; leakage or inability to empty the bladder; lack of sensation and decreased sexual pleasure; and constipation. "What many women don't know is that highly-effective, advanced treatments exist today," says Dr. Michael Glass of Sky Ridge Medical Center. Also, both surgical and nonsurgical solutions are becoming less invasive, Glass says. Volin agrees, using pelvicfloor stimulation as an example. The electrical stimulation to boost strength of the pelvic-floor muscles, reducing or eliminating some prolapse symptoms, can now be done in the privacy of patients' homes.