Leg Pain

Common causes of leg pain 

• Varicose veins—bulging, rope-like veins that are caused by weakened, stretched out vein walls
• Spider veins—superficial red, blue, or purple veins that have a web-like appearance
• Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI)—a defect in the vein walls and valves that causes blood to pool inside the veins instead of flowing to the heart
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)—a blood clot (thrombus) in a deep vein that can be potentially life-threatening if it travels to the lungs
• Superficial thrombophlebitis—a blood clot in a vein near the surface of the skin. 

Treating the causes of leg pain 

• Self-care—losing weight, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, avoiding sitting or standing for long periods of time, and elevating your legs frequently can reduce leg pain and keep your symptoms from worsening.
• Compression stockings—these garments squeeze your legs to boost your blood flow and support weakened veins. This can help with leg swelling and chronic pain.
• Sclerotherapy—this is a non-invasive, in-office procedure where your doctor injects a liquid or foam chemical into your varicose veins, causing them collapse and eventually dissolve. 
• Laser therapy—strong bursts of targeted light are used to close off smaller varicose veins and spider veins. This procedure is commonly done for cosmetic reasons. 
• Endovenous thermal ablation (EVTA)—your doctor inserts a wire-like catheter into your varicose vein through a small incision and heats it with either laser (EVLA) or radiofrequency energy (ERFA). The heat shrinks and collapses the problem vein, and it eventually dissolves. 
• Vein stripping—your doctor removes the large vein in your leg called the great saphenous vein (GSV) through incisions in your groin and ankle. (This procedure is now uncommon because less-invasive treatments are available.) 
• Ambulatory phlebectomy—small, superficial varicose veins are removed through tiny punctures or incisions along the skin. This is often combined with sclerotherapy.
• Endoscopic vein surgery—your doctor will insert a tiny wire-like catheter with a camera into your leg and then remove the varicose veins through small cuts in the skin. This is usually only performed for severe cases of varicose veins that are causing skin ulcers.

• Anticoagulants (blood thinners)—medication used to treat DVT. These blood thinners keep clots from getting bigger, and may also prevent new clots from forming. 
• Thrombolytics—a drug that is delivered intravenously or directly into the blood clot to dissolve it, improve blood flow, and limit damage caused by the blood clot. Thrombolytics can cause serious bleeding, so they are only used in emergency situations.
• Surgically inserted filters—your surgeon puts these filters into your veins to prevent DVT blood clots from travelling to the lungs, where they can cause a potentially life threatening condition called pulmonary embolism. 

Costs