Vascular & Endovascular Interventions of New York
IT'S GOOD TO TREAT, BUT IT'S EVEN BETTER TO TREAT WELL
Circulation disease specialist Dr. Lev Khitin often answers questions from our readers. These questions include fears, uncertainty about home treatment methods, and a desire to share a personal diagnosis.
Some questions are asked particularly frequently, which is why the answers to them are of such great interest when we publish them on the pages of our newspaper.
For the past 20 years, the number one killers in the United States have been strokes and heart attacks. Both of these processes involve blockages of blood vessels by a combination of a blood clot and cholesterol plaque.
In the first case, the arteries of the brain are blocked, in the second - the heart. Here is one of the classic questions asked to the doctor by his patients:
— I have suffered from thrombophlebitis all my life, my legs are covered with varicose veins. What should I do to prevent blood clots from entering the vessels of the brain or heart?
— Your worries are based on a very common misconception. The basis of this misconception is the diagnosis of "thrombophlebitis" itself. You are not suffering from thrombophlebitis, but from venous insufficiency. Varicose veins are just one, and by the way, not the most common, of its symptoms.
Thrombophlebitis is one of the many complications of venous insufficiency. It is certainly an unpleasant complication, but, unlike deep vein thrombosis, it is not dangerous and with proper treatment there is no trace of it. Symptoms of venous insufficiency also include fatigue and heaviness in the legs, numbness and swelling, burning, cramps, itching and periodic redness of the ankles.
It is worth noting that deep vein thrombosis is also an independent disease, not related to venous insufficiency. It, in turn, can be complicated by thromboembolism, in which blood clots can be carried into the central bloodstream. But even in this case, the clots do not get into the heart or the brain, but into the lungs, where blood collects to be enriched with oxygen.
Therefore, it is worth concluding that your veins, even with varicose veins, are not a symptom of thrombophlebitis and a signal of a threat of stroke or heart attack. But it is possible and necessary to cure the venous insufficiency that you suffer from. We can help quickly, painlessly and without surgery. you at our New York Vein Institute.
Another question that Dr. Chitin is often asked concerns home remedies for relieving the symptoms of venous insufficiency.
— They say that it is useful to raise and keep your legs in an elevated position.
Is this true?
— Of course, any swelling, and not only venous, temporarily improves when the legs are elevated. But we should not forget that leg swelling is a symptom of various diseases that require different, and often diametrically opposed, approaches. Therefore, for any disease, treatment should be based on not on the symptoms, but on the root of the issue - the diagnosis of the disease.
The next question is worth paying special attention to because it concerns symptoms that at first glance do not cause any particular concern.
- My legs are covered with blue capillaries literally from top to bottom. I know it's extremely unattractive. But I would like to know if this is a sign of some kind of disease?
— Unfortunately, what you call "blue capillaries" are actually small veins that have swelled to an abnormal size as a result of improper blood flow in the larger veins that feed them. They need to be treated. But the method of treatment, as well as the definition of a more an accurate diagnosis, require an immediate visit to the doctor. The specialists you need are available at our New York Institute for Vein Disease Treatment.
Lev Khitin, MD, FACS
Vascular & Endovascular Interventions of New York
IF YOU SUFFER FROM PAIN, CRAMPS OR WEAKNESS IN YOUR LEGS, IF YOU
IT IS DIFFICULT TO STAND OR WALK IF YOU HAVE
FEET ARE TIRED, BURNING, NUMB OR COLD,
please contact:
WE WILL HELP YOU!
Lev Khitin, MD, FAC S
A physician of the highest category in the fields of cardiovascular, thoracic and general surgery. Member of the American Academy of Surgery, Corresponding Member of the American Association of Cardiac Surgeons, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the American Academy of Vascular Medicine, founder and permanent president of the New York Institute for the Treatment of Vein Diseases.
Manhattan, 30 Park Ave, NY, NY 10016
Brooklyn, 406 15th Street
(718) 372-8346
