Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI)

Sometimes bulging leg veins can be more than a cosmetic issue – it can be a sign of venous insufficiency. Our vein specialists are here to help you, providing expertise in venous insufficiency treatment and varicose vein removal.

What is chronic venous insufficiency?

Your veins are the blood vessels that bring blood back to your heart. Venous insufficiency occurs when your leg veins can’t do this effectively. Blood pools in the superficial and deep veins in your legs instead of flowing up to your heart.

Chronic venous insufficiency can happen with or without varicose veins. Varicose veins appear as blue bulging lumps when excess blood pools in the superficial leg veins, which lie closest to the skin surface.

Chronic venous insufficiency symptoms

Symptoms of venous insufficiency include:

• Edema, or swelling, in the lower legs and ankles, especially after standing
• Itchy or flaky skin on the legs and feet
• Leg cramping or weakness
• New varicose veins or worsening of existing varicose veins
• Skin discolorations or leathery skin on the legs
• Tired, achy legs and feet, sometimes with burning or throbbing sensations
• Ulcers or wounds on the legs and ankles that have trouble healing

Chronic venous insufficiency causes & risk factors

Chronic venous insufficiency is fairly common in both women and men but tends to be seen more often in women. You’re more likely to get venous insufficiency if you have certain conditions or risk factors. These include:

• Family history of the condition
• Obesity
• Pregnancy
• High blood pressure
• Age 50 and over

Chronic venous insufficiency diagnosis

To diagnose venous insufficiency, your doctor will start with a physical exam and ask about your family history. We’ll carefully examine your legs for varicose veins or other related signs. We may check the blood pressure in your legs, too.

To confirm a diagnosis, we may perform a duplex ultrasound, a test that uses sound waves to detect blood clots and observe blood flow in the legs.

Find out more about heart and vascular testing and diagnosis.

Chronic venous insufficiency treatment

Like with many conditions, it’s always better to prevent venous insufficiency from occurring in the first place. If that’s not possible, early treatment is the next best option.

Tips for prevention and early treatment include:

• Get regular exercise.
• If you sit or stand for long periods, try to take short walking breaks whenever possible.
• Quit smoking.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Take antibiotics to treat skin infections as directed by your doctor.
• Take care of your legs and feet. Wash your skin frequently and use a moisturizing lotion.
• Wear compression stockings.

In more severe cases of chronic venous insufficiency, we may recommend:

• Compression wraps over your ankles and legs
• Medication
• Nonsurgical treatments for varicose veins, such as sclerotherapy or endovenous thermal ablation
• Surgery, such as:
  • Ambulatory phlebectomy, a minimally invasive procedure that removes problem veins through tiny incisions
  • Vein ligation and stripping, surgically tying and removing the affected vein
  • Surgical bypass to reroute blood flow around a blocked vein, using a portion of a normal vein taken from another place in the body

Are you at risk for heart disease?

Knowing your risk factors of heart disease – the leading cause of death in the U.S. – can help you lower your chances of developing it. Our heart health quiz estimates your risk, determines which of your risk factors are controllable, and gives you an idea of what to do next based on your results.

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