What's new

Saphenous Varicose Veins....?

StuInTokyo

Maximum Pace
Dec 3, 2010
1,662
62
I thought I'd ask here as the knowledge pool here is impressive :D

A bit of a back story, a few years ago I stared to get bad sores on my lower legs that would NOT heal, I went to a large University Hospital and got treated by the Dermatology Department for two years, all they did was put goo on my legs and bandages, they never did figure out what my problem was, utterly useless. I was hospitalized twice with these ulcers some of which took six months to heal. I was talking to some friends on a woodworking forum about this and one guy piped up and said that he had a similar thing and started to wear the compression socks and the problem went away. I found a Vein Doctor up in Ikebukuro who did an untra sound and told me that my problem was an enlarged Saphenous Vein in my groin area. He recommended that I start wearing the pressure socks and in two weeks my ulcers were healed. At the time he mentioned a laser surgery that could be done on an out patient basis that would effectively cure the problem, I think it is called EVLT which looks really common outside of Japan, but no so much here in Japan, where they still mostly do the vein stripping, which is a much more invasive procedure.

The reason I'm looking at this is train as much as I can, ride as hard as I can, or take some days off, etc no matter what I do my legs ache all the time. I still have the power to get up the hills pulling a trailer full of beer but I know that tonight when I sit down for a while my legs will just simply ache, tomorrow when I wake up and get out of bed, the first few steps I take, my legs will ache. I know about pain after a hard ride, but I'm not riding that hard, and I never seem to recover. From my reading on the web, this aching legs, heavy legs and tiredness is a common symptom of the Varicose vein problem.

What I'm asking is if anyone has any experience with this?

I'm tired of my legs aching all the time, at least the Japanese medical insurance now seems to cover part of the cost of this procedure, when I first went to see the doctor they did not cover any of the costs of the visit.

His website is here....

http://www.tokyo-veinclinic.com/

All in Japanese but you can google translate it and you get a good idea about the procedures etc.

If anyone has any experience, I'd really appreciate some comments.

Cheers!
 
Sorry, no knowledge of this. Aside from the obvious comment about wearing the compression socks when cycling (which I`m sure you are) I think you`re best bet would be to search one of the main cycling forums that have a wider knowledge or user base, or just a general search (again, you`ve probably already thought of this/done it).

So aside from this, George Hincapie is famous for his varicose veins (I would post a picture, but it is truly hideous) so maybe some research on him might help.
 
Sorry, no knowledge of this. Aside from the obvious comment about wearing the compression socks when cycling (which I`m sure you are) I think you`re best bet would be to search one of the main cycling forums that have a wider knowledge or user base, or just a general search (again, you`ve probably already thought of this/done it).

So aside from this, George Hincapie is famous for his varicose veins (I would post a picture, but it is truly hideous) so maybe some research on him might help.

Thanks, you are correct, I've done all of that stuff, and found some good info, but nothing is better than someone who has already been through the procedure, especially here in Japan.

I'll keep looking and I'll post up what I find out.

Cheers!
 
Vein Trouble....

Stu,

I have a related problem,one of the valves in my right leg doesn't work properly ,so I'm resigned to getting it fixed.I don't fancy the stripping at all,evidently it takes quite a while(3 weeks before you can even begin moderate exercise).

I've heard about that Tokyo Vein Clinic that you mentioned and in fact I heard that they now do accept national insurance.

The laser treatment costs about ¥70,000,but as an out-patient you should be allowed to leave the hospital on the same day.

Hope everything works out.
 
I got back from the vein doc today, good news, bad news. The good news is that I don't have the very enlarged vein that I had last time around, two years ago, he suggests that because of the weight I lost and the cycling I'm doing things have improved on that front, but he had no good explanation why I'm getting the pain, the discolored flesh, and itching. He did an extensive search with the sonogram or ultra sound equipment on both legs and could not find any problem...? He advised me that the EVLT surgery was not needed, and would most likely just be a waste of money. What he did suggest is that my pressure stockings have gotten old, I never thought of that, and on the one leg with the worst area, he put a pad over that area and then the pressure stocking, which should help. He found no problem with the valves in my veins, they are not letting any back flow happen, again, good news. If new pressure stockings and the pad do not yield results in the next month or so, there is some injection he can to to the troubled area, then if that does not work, he would be willing to discuss the EVLT surgery again. Seems I have more questions than answers, now but that is not uncommon. The pain in my legs, well maybe I'm just getting old :)

Cheers!
 
Try this

legsup.jpg


20 mins. It can seem a really long time. Get iPod or something. Best just before you go to bed. Once a day.

Yep, that is a good idea, I'm also going to build a wooden version of this.....
View attachment 912
I use a Tempur memory foam mattress over a regular mattress so the wooden version of this leg elevator would go between the two mattresses. Should help a lot according to the doctor, so will losing another 50+ pounds :D
 
Stu...

How is the Tokyo Vein Clinic?

My leg vein problem has now reached the point of no return,so I was interested about what happened to you.

I've sent you a PM on the matter to learn what happened to you.
 
Stu...

How is the Tokyo Vein Clinic?

My leg vein problem has now reached the point of no return,so I was interested about what happened to you.

I've sent you a PM on the matter to learn what happened to you.

Got your PM and replied.

I'd go there a gain, I felt I was treated well.:D
 
Back
Top Bottom