Varicose Veins, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Treatment And Related Diseases

By Kenneth Kee

Varicose veins are swollen veins in the legs
The affected area will be painful and turn red
The risk for varicose veins is related to older age
Immobility, pregnancy or obesity and overweight

Varicose veins can cause an itchy rash or dermatitis
Inflammation of the varicose veins called phlebitis
Discolored skin in the area around the varicose vein
Due to the leakage of a blood dye called hemosiderin

Blood clot can occur in the vein due to inactivity
Medicine such as the Pill may increase coagulability
It may be a sign of deep vein thrombosis
A venogram will confirm the diagnosis

Treatment is with compression stocking
With regular exercise and avoiding standing
Sclerosing of the varicose vein can be by injection
Surgical removal is done by stripping and vein ligation

-An original poem by Kenneth Kee

No treatment if condition is mild

a. Elastic stocking support stockings and pressure bandaging compress the valves of the veins together to prevent backflow and prevent dilation of the veins.

Once the stockings are in place, exercise by walking as much as possible.
While stockings can slow down the natural course of the disease and reduce the painful symptoms, they can not cure the disease.

b. Traditional Sclerotherapy
Here the veins are injected with a small amount of a solution causing them to collapse and disappear.

Foam Sclerotherapy is similar to traditional sclerotherapy but using a foaming agent making it more suitable for larger veins.

c. Surgical treatment: Tying and stripping of veins

Varicose Veins are swollen veins in the legs which have ballooned up over time.

Varicose veins are quite common in Singapore women especially those who have to stand for long periods such as teachers, housewives, pregnant women and hawkers.

This patient is a 52 year old housewife who had 5 pregnancies each of which cause her varicose veins to be come worse.

She had varicose veins since 10 years ago.
Recently the veins become swollen and painful.
In spite of many treatments by other doctors both public and private, her varicose conditions did not improve.
After Chinese medicines cause ulcers in one varicose vein near the ankle of her Varicose veins, her family brought her to see me.

To me the most important goal of treatment was to treat the ulcer before going on treat the varicose veins.

I had to do a complete debridement of her ulcers patiently cleaning it , applying antibiotic ointment and wrapping her whole leg from foot to knee with bandages to ensure proper flow of blood.
A compression stocking was used over the bandaging to ensure blood flow is good.
Fortunately she did not have any diabetes or any other illness which may affect the healing of her wound.

Hydrogen peroxide slightly diluted is one of the best cleaning solution for any wound because it provides oxygen and at the same time the bubbling oxygen will bring any debris to the surface.
I use it all the time for my patients.

She was told to return daily for cleaning and application of antibiotic ointment.
While at home she was to keep her affected foot raised while sitting at home or sleeping.
She was allowed to walk with her compression stocking.
Slowly the wound become smaller and smaller until it finally closed.

Once the ulcer closed I told her that I was going to treat the vein which leads to the ulcer first to ensure that there is no recurrence of the ulcer.
I used a insulin syringe to inject the sclerosing chemical (phenol in almond oil used in hemorrhoid injection) into the vein before the ulcer to kill off the blood vessel under local anesthetic.
The leg was bandaged with a compression stocking placed over her affected.

The patient was initially apprehensive but she accepted my decision.
After 1 week of treatment the vein was found to be flat and did

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Jun 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310380839

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Varicose

Veins,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Treatment

And

Related Diseases

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B., B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2015 Smashwords Edition

Published By Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes the Varicose Veins, Treatment and Related Vascular Diseases such as Superficial ThromboPhlebitis, Raynaud Disease, Buerger’s Disease, Intermittent Claudications which are seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

Ode to Varicose veins

Varicose veins are swollen veins in the legs

The affected area will be painful and turn red

The risk for varicose veins is related to older age

Immobility, pregnancy or obesity and overweight

Varicose veins can cause an itchy rash or dermatitis

Inflammation of the varicose veins called phlebitis

Discolored skin in the area around the varicose vein

Due to the leakage of a blood dye called hemosiderin

Blood clot can occur in the vein due to inactivity

Medicine such as the Pill may increase coagulability

It may be a sign of deep vein thrombosis

A venogram will confirm the diagnosis

Treatment is with compression stocking

With regular exercise and avoiding standing

Sclerosing of the varicose vein can be by injection

Surgical removal is done by stripping and vein ligation

-An original poem by Kenneth Kee

Interesting Tips about the Varicose veins

A Healthy Lifestyle

1. Take a well Balanced Diet

2. No treatment if condition is mild

a. Elastic stocking support stockings and pressure bandaging compress the valves of the veins together to prevent backflow and prevent dilation of the veins.

Once the stockings are in place, exercise by walking as much as possible.

When sitting, raise the legs.

While sleeping, do not use the stockings.

Raise the bottom of bed or put legs on pillows to elevate the legs.

While stockings can slow down the natural course of the disease and reduce the painful symptoms, they can not cure the disease.

b. Traditional Sclerotherapy

Here the veins are injected with a small amount of a solution causing them to collapse and disappear.

Foam Sclerotherapy is similar to traditional sclerotherapy but using a foaming agent making it more suitable for larger veins.

c. Surgical treatment: Tying and stripping of veins

3. Keep bones and body strong

Bone marrow produces our blood

Eat foods rich in calcium like yogurt, cheese, milk, and dark green vegetables.

Eat foods rich in Vitamin D, like eggs, fatty fish, cereal, and fortified milk.

Eat food rich in Vitamins B and C such as green vegetables and fruits

Zinc and other minerals are important to the body

4. Get enough rest and Sleep

Avoid stress and tension

5. Exercise and stay active.

It is best to do weight-bearing exercise such as walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing, or lifting weights for 2½ hours a week.

One way to do this is to be active 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week.

Begin slowly especially if a person has not been active.

6. Do not drink more than 2 alcohol