varicose vein pain

[cyclesooz]

Hi all, I read about Emily's surgery (EVLT) and also latelatebloomers varicose vein problems and I wanted to share some of my own difficulties with VV's and ask you guys some questions. First of all I have had VV for years now, and yes, cycling really helps alot, but I'm a surgical nurse and spend alot of time on my feet and the past couple years I have had more and more pain. I have been wearing support hose for at least 2 years (just when I go to work).
Heres the thing... I can deal with the pain in my everyday living, but I'm wondering how much the varicose veins EFFECT my cycling. I raced road last year and many times experienced cramping in my right calf (my right leg is worse than my left). When I have intense hard workouts and go to sprint, I sometimes feel like someone is squeezing my whole right leg, especially in my calves, I feel this tightness and some cramping. I can't help but wonder if my varicose veins have something to do with this. I've been training really hard to be ready to race again this year, but I worry if the VV hold me back from being stronger and faster on the bike. I've seen 3 cardiovascular docs and none of them think the VV make my cycling worse. They do however, say that cycling will help prevent the VV from getting worse (of course we already know that). As a nurse and as an athlete, I can't help but wonder, if the circulation is not efficient and the blood with the lactic acid cannot be taken away quick enough, can't that result in cramping and pain in the muscles? Well, after seeing 3 surgeons, none of them seem to be able to tell me what I want to hear--that the EVLT surgery WILL in fact, help my legs to function better on the bike. None of them would guarantee this. They all said, that definitely, I should have less pain (in general) and especially after a long day at work... but what I'm really hoping for, is that it helps my legs feel better after a long day on my bike!! Emily, you are the only female cyclist I have heard of that has had this surgery---please share with me your feelings about this procedure and HOW IT EFFECTED your cycling. My surgery is scheduled for February 26th and they are also doing a ligation and a phlebectomy. The surgeon did ultrasound my leg and said I am definitely a candidate and my saphenous veins are incompetent. I wanted to do this in the winter before racing season started, but I just found out my insurance will pay for this 100%!! So I think I should do it now and get it over with and hope that I'm not off the bike too long and can get right back into it and maybe race about one month after the surgery. The doctor said he wants me off the bike for at least one week. I'm wondering how it will feel once I get back to riding. I guess my biggest fear is that I will lose alot of fitness and maybe even have more pain than before. Or that it takes me out of the racing season for months. Any comments or advice is appreciated!!! THanks for reading my long post!! Susie

[emily_in_nc]

Hi Susie!

I sure wish I could help you more, but in my case, my vein pain never affected my cycling prior to surgery. I only felt it during hiking, standing for periods of time, and when sitting around at home. My pain was pretty confined to the inside of my left knee only. It sounds like you have much more severe, widespread pain and worse varicosities than I did, so I suspect that you will have a significant improvement after your surgery. That improvement should carry over to cycling as well as every day activities and standing, which I am sure you must do a lot of in your line of work.

I'm not a doctor and can't give you an assurance that your cycling will be improved, just like they can't, but my gut feeling is that anything that improves the circulation in your legs and minimizes your vein pain is going to help your cycling quite a bit! So I definitely think you are doing the right thing in having the surgery. Since it is covered by your insurance, you really have nothing to lose in getting it done. I had to pay 20% for mine because I am on an 80/20 insurance plan, and it was pricier than I expected (about $14K including all appointments, tests, follow-ups, and they actually used general anesthesia, which surprised me -- that is more expensive than other forms of anesthesia). But it was worth it to me.

The fact that you are also having additional procedures done, and I assume both legs at once, makes me question them saying you can ride after one week! I was told not to do any exercise other than normal day-to-day walking and nothing strenuous (heavy lifting, etc) for two weeks after surgery, and to be honest, I didn't feel much like riding for three weeks. The leg felt odd for a few weeks following surgery, and I'd get a pulling sensation when I walked, which they said was very normal. However, once I did ride again, I was completely fine, so I probably could have started back after just two weeks, but I was mountain biking so was trying to be even more careful than usual.

I don't think you should worry about being out for months or losing a lot of fitness in just a couple of weeks off the bike. It will come back very fast, and the end result should be well worth a couple of weeks off. It was for me.

As a follow-up, I'll tell you that I have not had ANY vein pain (even though my veins were not removed, just the greater saphenous vein closed off) since the surgery, so it was a success in that regard. Cosmetically, the veins are still a little more visible than I'd like, but the bulging is less, and they are not as noticeable. So, I'd say I am "fairly satisfied" from a cosmetic standpoint and "very satisfied" from a pain standpoint.

Good luck, and let me know if you have any additional questions! I'll be interested to hear how your surgery and recovery goes, so make sure to post a follow-up here, if you would be so kind.

latelatebloomer - somehow I missed your post from 11/7. Did you decide to have the surgery?

Emily

[HipGnosis6]

This is interesting. I don't know how many of you have been following the thread about my leg ulcer, but it's related to circulation problems and fluids that wouldn't clear out of the wound site - and the treatment, involving compression dressings, has been very successful so far. Your VVs can turn into ulcers, usually at the ankle - and boy do you want to get it taken care of before then. My mom had VV surgery 20 years ago and said it wasn't bad then and it can only have improved since then.

Several friends in my age group (early 30's) have had veins done but I don't know any who voluntarily wear compression stockings....

[doc]

I am in the middle of dealing with my VV problems right now. I am deciding between EVLT and sclerotherapy for my biggies, and doing sclerotherapy on the ones that are merely ugly and not painful.

EVLT is done by interventional radiologists and by various "vein specialists". Vascular surgeons tend to do the stripping which I did have done about 5 years ago for a giant honker of a vein. That I do NOT recommend to anyone. My surgeon required me to have general anesthesia which really sucked.

I am actually looking forward to sclerotherapy (injection) or laser and being done with the throbbing in my thighs. I hate that incessant throbbing! Nowadays stripping is done very rarely and if your doc suggests it, go see an interventional radiologist!

[cyclesooz]

Thanks for your reply Emily! You made me feel better and more at ease about going through with this procedure (EVLT). I do worry about the amount of pain I'll have afterwards. Just one more question for you...How long did you experience that "pulling sensation"?? Did it go away after 3 or 4 weeks?? Thanks again for your help. I will let you know how it goes after I've had it done!
Susie

[emily_in_nc]

Just one more question for you...How long did you experience that "pulling sensation"?? Did it go away after 3 or 4 weeks??

Yes, I felt completely normal after three weeks and close to normal after two. The pulling sensation was mild. I could still take walks. It was just something I was aware of -- not really pain, just an odd sensation. The RN told me that it was more common in thin people, for some reason, and that not everyone feels it.

Good luck, and please do check back in after your surgery!

Emily

[Titania]

I've got a big honker of a VV that runs down the inside of my left thigh down to my knee. I asked my doc about it a couple of months ago, but she said it wasn't worrisome if it wasn't causing pain.

[emily_in_nc]

EVLT is done by interventional radiologists and by various "vein specialists". Vascular surgeons tend to do the stripping which I did have done about 5 years ago for a giant honker of a vein. That I do NOT recommend to anyone. My surgeon required me to have general anesthesia which really sucked.

My EVLT was done by a vascular surgeon (vascular surgery dept. at UNC). Stripping is much less common these days, he said. I'm lucky to have very good hospitals where I live, though. Both UNC and Duke offer EVLT.

I actually liked having the general anesthesia as I didn't want to feel any pain - and I didn't. I don't have any problems with anesthesia, though. Most who have EVLT have only local anesthetic or IV sedation, but I guess since I went to a vascular surgeon, I got the full kit and kaboodle. It was more expensive as a result. I was very pleased with my surgeon, though.

My varicosities were too large for sclerotherapy -- I'd asked my dermatologist before I went for a consult for EVLT.

Emily