Vein Ulcer Therapy

Getting You Back On Your Feet

Chronic or non-healing leg or foot ulcers are a significant medical problem among adults.  In fact, approximately 1 percent of the population will have them at some point.  These ulcers are wounds that just won’t go away, often beginning as small scrapes or cuts that continue to progress to large tissue defects of several centimeters or more.

Eighty percent of these wounds are actually caused by underlying superficial venous insufficiency. This happens when the damaged veins cause abnormally high blood pressure in the veins which damages the skin on the lower legs and ankles, and eventually leads to ulcers. The ulcers themselves are breaks in the skin of the leg, which allow air and bacteria to penetrate to underlying tissue.

Symptoms

Patients should be on the lookout for these early signs of venous insufficiency:

• Swelling and/or heaviness that worsens over the course of the day
• Pain or cramping that worsens over the course of the day
• Cramping at night relieved by elevation or walking
• Varicose veins or prominent spider veins
• Darkening of the skin in the ankle and/or calf

Additionally, if you have any of the following symptoms, Dr. Gropper and his staff can evaluate and recommend appropriate treatment:

• A vein sore or sores aka venous ulcers
• An ulcer on your leg, foot, toe or ankle
• Diabetic related chronic ulcers or sores that are not healing
• Stasis dermatitis
• Other nonhealing ulcerations, sores or wounds

Treatment

At Vivid Vascular, our goal is to treat the external ulcer(s) while also treating the root cause.