A Vein Clinic in Rockville, MD Lists 4 Questions to Ask Your Doctor about Varicose Veins
The first time you visit a specialist in varicose vein treatment in Rockville, MD, the doctor will ask you a number of questions about you and your family’s health history, and about the symptoms you have been experiencing. The doctor will also perform a number of tests to evaluate your vein health and will present the findings to you. At this point, however, there are a number of questions that you should ask.
- “What’s the verdict? Do I have vein disease or not?”
This may seem like an obvious question, since the reason you are seeing a vein doctor is to find the answer to it, but you would be surprised how many patients fail to ask it. This is your opportunity to find out whether the symptoms you’ve noticed are the result of vein disease or not.
- “If I don’t have vein disease currently, what can I do to prevent it?”
If your Rockville varicose vein doctor answers the first question with a “No,” the most important thing you need to know is whether you are at risk of developing vein disease in the future. Factors that increase your vein disease risk include, obesity, a family history of varicose veins or other vein diseases, and inactivity. If your examination shows that you are at higher than normal risk, your doctor can present to you ways to reduce that risk and keep your veins healthy.
- “If I do have vein disease, what are my treatment options?”
If the answer to that first question was “Yes, you have vein disease,” your next question should be, “OK, so what can we do about it?” If your vein disease is mild, the doctor may recommend conservative treatments involving diet, exercise, and wearing compression stockings. If your vein disease is more advanced, or if you want to eliminate your varicose veins permanently, there are treatment options to do this. When the doctor presents treatment options to you, you should ask follow-up questions like:
- “How long does each of these types of treatment take?”
- “Will their effects be permanent or temporary?”
- “How long will it be before I see results?”
- “What would be the result of avoiding or delaying treatment?”
This, interestingly enough, is one of the most important questions you should ask. Many patients, when they first learn that they have varicose veins or other kinds of vein disease, tend to “put off” having them treated, thinking that the diseases are not serious. This is a mistake. Varicose veins, for example, don’t go away if you ignore them, or “get better on their own.” They get worse, and often much worse. Asking this question allows you to find out how much worse they can get, and what the consequences will be if you delay treatment.
Whatever your questions are, remember we’re here to answer them
At the top vein center in Rockville, we want our patients to be fully informed at every step of diagnosis and treatment, so they can make the best decisions about their own vein health. So when you call us at 301-637-3088 to set up an appointment, feel free to ask us any question you want, and we’ll do our best to answer them.