We were on a family vacation up in Northern Michigan when I first realized that I had problem: those veins that were bulging in my calf? They were getting worse. One look at them and my mother-in-law told me what they were: varicose veins.
At age 35, I didn’t believe her, at least not at first. After all, I assumed that varicose veins happened only to people who were, well, older.
Varicose Vein Risk Factors
But she was 100% right, and I soon realized I had multiple risk factors for varicose veins:
- I was a woman. Yup, women are more likely to get them than men.
- Pregnancy (and I had two pregnancies).
- I was overweight. (In part due to my pregnancy, but yeah, I’ll be honest: I was at my highest weight ever when they first appeared).
- Standing (or sitting for long periods of time). With two young kids, I was constantly on my feet. Who knew? I sure didn’t; I thought being “active” all the time would help, but it can actually make blood pool, which can contribute to worsening vein symptoms.
There were other risk factors to be sure, like genetics and age, but those four things were enough to contribute to the bulging veins.
I attempted to “self care” my way out of them. When my legs started to ache, I forced myself to sit, prop them up, and rest. (My kids loved this; they would poke at my veins that sometimes looked like bubbles). I also got a stationary bike and biked as often I could. This is recommended, not only for exercise, because biking can help blood flow in the legs.
More than six months went by, and short season returned. My legs had been aching like crazy — and I formed a connection. My varicose veins had worsened, snaking up from my ankles and calves all the way up into my thighs.
When Self Care Isn’t Enough
At my annual physical, I finally talked to my doctor about them. I told her about my self-care efforts — which she said was good — and about how I was taking Ibuprofen to manage the aches and pain, which she said, of course, wasn’t good. She referred me to a varicose vein doctor.
Even so, it took me another few months before I finally saw a doctor. Why? I was busy. With life. With the kids. With work. With everything. I let my health fall to the wayside, thinking that a doctor wouldn’t be able to help me that much. Or if he was able to, that I wouldn’t be able to afford it.
But I finally went, and I’m thankful that I did. I had all the signs and symptoms that I had varicose veins — and a valve issue in my legs. Sure enough, an ultrasound confirmed it: the valves in both my legs weren’t working properly, and if I did nothing about the valves, it would only get worse.
I also learned this: that because my varicose veins were a medical condition, insurance would cover it, or at least pay a part of the procedure. For that, I was extremely thankful.
I wish I could say the rest of the process was easy and painless, but I can’t. It took nearly a year from my first consult to my last (of four) varicose vein procedures. It took as long as it did, in large part, because of waiting for insurance approvals multiple times.
But you know what? It was 100% worth the insurance rigmarole, because a year later, my legs are pretty much pain free. They don’t go numb from sitting on the ground playing with my kids. I can run around in the backyard with my kids and not worry about making my varicose vein pain flare. And for that I’m extremely thankful.
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