To many people who have varicose veins, they seem like a very personal problem. Who else, after all, is affected by the bulging, unsightly, bluish-colored veins on your legs, your swollen legs and ankles, and by your lack of desire to go out and do things because all you can do is think, “My legs hurt”?

Your romantic partner, that’s who. Your husband or wife (men have varicose veins, too) is also affected, because naturally they care about you, and want to see you happy and healthy. If your varicose veins are causing you pain, or even if they’re just causing you emotional distress and affecting your personal and social life because you are ashamed to show your legs in public, this causes them pain, too.

What can a spider and varicose veins doctor in Winston-Salem do to help your marriage?

Varicose veins are not merely a personal issue or merely a cosmetic issue. They are indications of a deeper problem – vein disease – that can sap your strength, leave you feeling tired and listless, and drastically affect your moods because of the pain and discomfort you feel. If you feel depressed every time you look in a mirror, naturally some of that negativity is going to be felt by your partner as well.

All of these symptoms may be devastating to your self-esteem and sense of well-being. Every time you choose long pants instead of the clothing that used to show off your legs more, your self-confidence is eroded a little further. Your partner can feel this, and may be affected by it. Varicose veins can also affect your sex life, if the feelings of shame you feel about your legs carry over into the bedroom, and make you feel more reluctant to be seen naked.

Also, if you have varicose veins, your partner is concerned about your overall health, because vein disease is very much a disease, with potentially devastating consequences. Left untreated, the varicose veins can become inflamed and covered with open sores that resist treatment and make your every movement painful. Your varicose veins may also be a superficial (meaning on the surface of the skin) symptom of a far more dangerous condition called deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This condition affects the deeper, larger veins of your legs, and can cause blood clots to form in them, obstructing and crippling your overall circulatory system. Even worse, if these blood clots break loose from where they have formed and travel to the lungs or brain, they can cause a pulmonary embolism or stroke, two of the leading causes of death in America.

So what are my vein disease treatment options in Winston-Salem?

Fortunately, the treatment that can eliminate your varicose veins (and thus may eliminate a potential cause of friction in your marriage) is as close as a phone call to Novant Health Vein Specialists. Our expert doctors can assess the state of your venous health in about an hour, using painless, non-invasive technologies like Doppler ultrasound to look beneath the surface of the skin and pinpoint the exact location of diseased or damaged veins.

At that point, the best vein doctors in Winston-Salem can prescribe the most effective treatment options. Some of them – like diet recommendations, exercise, and wearing compressing stockings to reduce the swelling and increase your circulation – require no in-office treatment to provide you with relief. Other treatment options can actually eliminate the varicose veins or DVT using sclerotherapy and endovenous laser treatment, minimally invasive techniques that require no general anesthesia, no hospital stays or long recovery times, and in fact can be performed in the comfort of our Winston-Salem or Kernersville offices. You can literally walk in, have your varicose veins treated in about an hour, and walk out free from them.

So give us a call at 336-276-0776 and set up an appointment for a consultation. Your varicose veins can be effectively and painlessly treated and eliminated. And if that makes you feel better about yourself, it’s bound to be good for your marriage as well. For additional information about varicose veins and the available treatment options, visit salemveins.com.