As experienced varicose vein treatment specialists in Honolulu, we would love to tell you that as doctors we now know so much about the risk factors that lead to vein disease and how to reduce them that we can completely prevent it. Vein disease is history – no more varicose veins, no more chronically swollen legs and ankles, and no more deep vein thrombosis and the many deaths caused by it.
We’d love to say this, but we can’t, because it isn’t true.
As Maui vein treatment specialists, we DO know much more about the risk factors for vein disease than we did even a few years ago, but we don’t know enough to be able to prevent all cases of it. Some of these risk factors, for example, we just can’t do anything about. The three biggest factors that cause vein disease are still your age, your gender, and your family medical history. If you are over 40, female, and your mother or grandmother had varicose veins, there is a strong possibility that you’ll have them, too. If you’ve been pregnant or are taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy, you’re even more likely to have vein problems. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that we CAN do something to lower other risk factors
You come face to face with one of the biggest risk factors for vein disease every time you step on a scale and look down at how much you weigh. If you are overweight or obese, every extra pound you carry around put increased pressure on your veins and ups your vein disease risk. Your Maui or Big Island vascular doctor can provide you with diet plans and advice that can help you to lose weight and keep it off, and thus reduce your vein disease risk.
Another huge risk for vein disease is smoking. Not only does it increase your vein disease risk, it increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, and other diseases as well. Stop smoking, and you can lower your vein disease risk significantly.
Another vein disease risk factor kills more people every year than smoking
This risk factor is less well known, but medical science is beginning to realize how dangerous it really is. It’s inactivity – sitting too much and not getting enough exercise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that inactivity – caused by too much time sitting and staring at computers and TVs and smartphones – has reached epidemic proportions worldwide, and at this point causes more deaths worldwide every year than smoking cigarettes. If you’ve become too sedentary, your Hawaii vein specialist can help you to develop a more active lifestyle that not only lowers your risk of getting vein disease, but reduces your risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer.
But the most important thing you can do to prevent vein disease is get a checkup to determine your personal risk levels
A vein health checkup takes only about an hour. It’s non-invasive and painless, but can determine very accurately whether you suffer from chronic venous insufficiency (CVI – the most common cause of varicose veins and spider veins) or deep vein thrombosis (DVT – far more dangerous, because it has few visible symptoms and is potentially fatal). If your doctor finds that you have vein disease, it can be treated almost as quickly and painlessly. If the checkup finds that you don’t have vein disease but have risk factors that make you more likely to get it, your vein care specialist in Kauai or Maui can help you reduce those risks.
So if you want to prevent vein disease, contact our vein treatment center in Hawaii and get a checkup. Call Dr. Randall S. Juleff and set up an appointment for your own venous health screening. You’ll be happy you did.
