A Top Vein Center in Rockville Presents “An Expert’s Guide to Swollen Legs and Ankles
If you occasionally experience swelling in your legs and ankles, that means that you’re probably normal. Most such swelling is caused by injuries or sprains while exercising or otherwise “overdoing it.” But if you experience chronically swollen \legs and ankles – meaning that the swelling lasts more than a couple of days, or occurs more than once a month – then varicose vein doctors in Montgomery County want you to know that it could be a symptom of vein disease.
What Montgomery County residents should know about swollen legs & ankles
When your veins are healthy, the flow of blood from your legs back to your heart and lungs is unimpeded. But if you have developed a vein disease called chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), the valves that normally close after blood passes through them become “leaky” and allow blood to flow back into the veins.
This causes them to swell and become varicose, but as Rockville varicose vein doctors will tell you, it also has a big impact on your overall circulation. When you have CVI and/or varicose veins, what happens is that your body loses its ability to reabsorb fluids, resulting in edema, swelling of the lower extremities. While this swelling initially seems like a minor problem, if untreated it can become serious.
Even “just” swollen legs and ankles can disrupt your health
Untreated swelling caused by CVI can very quickly become painful, which can cause you to become less mobile, and to get less exercise. This is a big problem, because health officials have recently pinpointed inactivity as one of the biggest health dangers on the planet, one that kills more people every year worldwide than smoking. But even on a psychological level, if you don’t do anything about the swelling and the pain and end up staying at home rather than going out, this can quickly erode your self-confidence and increase your risk of depression.
So what can you do about swollen legs and ankles?
The most important thing you should do if you suffer from swollen legs & ankles is contact one of the most trusted vein clinics in Rockville, MD and schedule a venous health screening to find out what the cause of the swelling is. These checkups take only about an hour, and are completely painless and non-invasive, but they allow your varicose vein doctor in Olney, MD to determine whether the cause is CVI or a similar vein disease.
If it is, these professionals can recommend treatments to eliminate the swelling by treating the underlying vein disease. Like the screening, these treatments are minimally-invasive, painless, and fast, and they can have you back on your feet in a matter of days. So pick up your phone and call a top vein center in Rockville at 301-637-3088 and set up an appointment for your own venous health screening. You’ll be happy you did.