Symptoms and complications of varicose veins
Symptoms
Many patients have marked varicose veins without any symptoms.
Symptoms may include:
 | leg aching and heaviness, especially towards the end of the day and may be relieved by rest and elevation of the legs |
| pain - usually mild. Severe pain is unlikely to be due to varicose veins unless a complication has arisen - see below. |
| cramps |
| itching or tingling |
| restless legs |
| leg swelling - this is usually mild, affects the ankle and foot and comes on towards the end of the day. It usually goes after a night's rest. |
It should be noted that some or all of these symptoms are also found in patients without varicose veins. They may not, therefore, go away after varicose vein treatment.
Complications
Various complications may arise. These usually strengthen the case for surgical treatment of varicose veins:
| superficial thrombophlebitis - this is the formation of a blood clot in the varicose vein. It causes redness, pain and the area is tender. It is not dangerous unless it is very extensive and approaches one of the junctions with the deep veins. This type of clot is unlikely to dislodge and move to the lungs (unlike the ones in the deep veins). |
| bleeding - if the varicose vein is covered by very thin skin, minor injuries may cause bleeding. This can be severe and may require emergency admission to hospital. |
| venous eczema - this may occur over large varicose veins or around the ankle. It causes dry, red, flaky and itchy skin. |
| venous pigmentation - this is brown staining of the skin around the ankle. It is due to the leakage of small amount of blood from the veins into the skin. |
| lipodermatosclerosis - this is the next stage up from pigmentation in that the fat under the skin is thickened and the skin feels hard and swollen. This is at high risk of breaking down to form an ulcer after minor injury. |
| venous ulceration - ulcers at the ankle. |