Circulation
Your feet and ankles are further from the heart than any other points on your body, so it’s important to know how to improve circulation in your legs.
It is important that blood is able return from your lower extremities up to the heart without any difficulty. When you recognize that your circulatory system isn’t working properly, it’s likely time to make some changes to your lifestyle and contact your physician in order to work out a plan to get your blood properly flowing throughout your body again.
If you are diabetic, this issue becomes even more serious as poor circulation can often lead to a myriad of problems, including the formation of ulcers and potential amputation.
Circulation disorders include a large number of different problems with one thing in common: they all result in poor blood flow. Specifically, the term peripheral vascular disease refers to blood flow impairment into the feet and legs.
Venous insufficiency, also known as chronic venous insufficiency or chronic venous stasis, occurs when the veins in your body have problems sending blood from the legs back to the heart. Normally, the veins in your lower extremities keep blood moving forward toward the heart, but if you are suffering from venous insufficiency, weakened vein walls and damaged valves cause fluid to pool in the legs.
If left untreated, chronic venous insufficiency tends to get worse over time. It can, however, be managed if treatment is started in the early stages. And although self-care steps can potentially ease some discomfort and prevent the condition from getting worse, it is more than likely that you will a need medical procedure to treat the condition.
If you have painful varicose veins or have a sudden increase in leg pain or swelling, fever, redness of the leg, or leg sores, it is recommended that you contact your doctor immediately for diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Goldbaum specializes in treating venous insufficiency by utilizing advanced ultrasound technology known as Radiofrequency Closure. The closure procedure is performed in the office and takes roughly 30 minutes to perform. By using ultrasound guidance, a thin catheter is inserted into the diseased vein that delivers radiofrequency energy to the vein wall.
As the radiofrequency energy is delivered and the catheter is withdrawn, the vein wall is heated, causing the collagen in the wall to shrink and the vein to close. Once the diseased vein is closed, blood is then re-routed to healthy veins and circulation will begin to improve. For an easier understanding, Dr. Goldbaum likens the procedure to a traffic jam – when one road is blocked, cars take a detour to get to their destination.
Radiofrequency Closure is approved by the FDA and is covered by medical insurance plans and Medicare. The procedure is performed using local anesthesia and there is virtually no postoperative discomfort.