Don’t wait for symptoms to start

We recently had a patient visit our office, accompanied by her 21-year-old daughter. Although the daughter was not having any significant symptoms, her mother wanted her to understand the importance of venous health, especially given that varicose veins run in the family.

That’s smart because venous disease is often hereditary, one good reason to be proactive in treating the condition. Take a look at the legs of your parents or grandparents. Your future health may be headed in the same direction.

Inflammation under the surface keeps going unabated until it eventually shows itself in the form of symptoms, including leg swelling, achiness and discoloration. Unfortunately, most people wait until they have these symptoms before taking action, but there are things you can do today to slow or even stop the disease’s progression.

Every day, we work with patients to do just that with preventative steps, including compression advice, walking, exercises to improve blood flow and strengthen the calf muscle, diet, supplements, and breathing and stress reduction—all of which can lead to improved vascular health as well as how you look and feel overall. You don’t have to wait until you have swelling or visible, bulging veins to take action.

If you think you may be susceptible to varicose veins or are experiencing any of the following symptoms, please give our office a call:

• leg pain or swelling
• heaviness or fatigue
• itching, tingling or burning
• inflammation
• skin discoloration
• restless legs syndrome.

Dr. Sonja Stiller is a diplomat of both the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine and the UIP 2023 Lead Chair for Scientific Abstracts. She is the founder of the Center for Advanced Vein Care, a Tier 1 provider with Lake Health Hospital System. The center’s offices are at 7200 Mentor Avenue, in Mentor. For an appointment, call 440-710-1140. Visit YourHealthyVeins.com.