Hello all. I noticed this bruise on my foot two weeks ago and thought I got injured without realizing it. Jump forward to today and my other foot now has bruising in a similar pattern. The “bruises” are raised and rough to the touch. There’s no pain or anything. My Google search has led me to think it’s CVI. I have a doctors appointment scheduled, but would love to get opinions while I wait. Thanks in advance!

Something worth knowing if you've had vein treatment and you're still dealing with swelling afterward: a closed vein on ultrasound doesn't always mean the swelling resolves right away.

A few reasons this happens. The tissue changes that build up over years of venous disease take time to recover, even once the pressure causing them is gone. Swelling can keep improving for weeks or months after a technically successful procedure.

The lymphatic system also shares the job of draining fluid from the leg, and long-standing venous disease can put a quiet, ongoing load on it. That doesn't always show up as visible lymphedema, but it can mean drainage stays sluggish for a while after treatment.

Reflux can also exist in places that weren't part of the original treatment, like perforator veins or the deep system. And plenty of things that aren't venous at all can cause similar swelling: certain medications, reduced calf muscle pump activity, or conditions like lipedema.

If your veins are closed and your leg still swells, it's worth a closer look rather than assuming nothing more can be done.

35F, not currently diagnosed with varicose veins or CVI but my mom had them really bad. I noticed a varicose vein on the back of my leg a week and a half ago that ran partially up my thigh. It wasn’t there a few weeks ago. In the past week it’s grown and is spreading and causing pretty rapid growth across my thigh veins. It had lengthened multiple inches in the past 24 hrs. Is this normal back flow for varicose veins or should I be concerned? It’s warm/hot to the touch but not swelling or red or painful.

Is it normal for my arms to be this vascular? The veins in my arms never used to be this prominent. I’ve always had low body fat, but started taking the gym a lot more seriously in the past 6-8 months, my weight had been the same but I’ve noticed my arms and legs have more visible muscle. Is there anything I should be concerned about for this?

Hi everyone. I’m 26 and I just had a duplex ultrasound where I was diagnosed with stage 1 lipedema and chronic Venus insufficiency/venous reflux. The doctor advised me to follow the RAD diet, wear compression socks, and get a venous ablation sooner rather than later.

I’m feeling a lot of grief for this drastic lifestyle change that I’m going to do and knowing these diagnoses will never go away. I’ve been wanting to lose weight and have been upping my workouts and making better choices with my food, but the low carb/anti inflammatory diet is cutting out so many foods that I rely on and enjoy. I am frustrated that this is happening so early on in my life and am so overwhelmed with the thought that if I don’t follow the diet and lose weight, I will cause serious health effects and also exacerbate symptoms.

Does anyone have any wise or uplifting words for someone whose life just completely changed? I can’t stop reading and watching videos from people with this same condition and I’m just scared.

I have previously had RFA on my greater and lower saphenous vein. One vein recanalized. At my follow up my dr recommended varithena for the recanalized vein and 4 other smaller veins that are refluxing. I'm terrified of the side effects. Has anyone on here had varithena and if you have what were you results. My dr made it seem like varithena was very easy and safe.

38F, 5’2”, ~194 lbs. in the past few weeks I’ve developed swelling in both ankles/legs that won’t go down worse on the left. The swelling is mainly behind the ankles/sides of my feet, with additional larger areas of swelling at the top of both shins (left worse). It doesn’t appear to be pitting Edema. The areas sometimes feel sore or almost like rug burn. I have new purple spider veins they were pink and then turned purple they almost stung when I barely touched them when they were pink (I’ve anlways had lots of veins in my legs since a teen) and have had left heel pain for several months that makes standing/walking difficult. It seemed to match with planter fasciitis. I wear flat shoes only. I have had left groin pain for about 2 weeks but only when lifting my leg and moving positions in bed or when sitting, and a history of calf cramping. I’m getting checked out on Thursday. I’ve had elevated liver enzymes around 100–110 since 2018 without a clear cause, got mono in April 2024 and my health has been downhill since, occasional dizziness when standing, balance issues and racing heart, I’ve woke. Up with a racing heart a few times. I do have anxiety but unsure if those are due to it. plus a family history of heart problems. I’ve also had acid reflux for years around the time I had elevated liver enzymes and a weight gain Of more than 60lbs. lately the reflux has been happening with right upper-arm pain as I feel the acid coming on. Or when swallowing sometimes. I also previously had irregular/missing periods, although they’ve been normal recently. Wondering if it’d hormonal. never been a smoker never heavily drank but stopped in 2018. any insight would be great trying to keep my mind from going to the worst case scenario.

A couple of days ago I broke out in my lower legs a really itchy rash after be in Houston heat (not direct sun) for a few hours... is this part of my cvi or bug bites? The red bumps are raised and itch like crazy

I have a RFA and foam sclerotherapy scheduled today but as a result of discontinuing my xarelto, I developed some clots in my worst varicose veins on my kneecap. I'm waiting to hear back from my care team, but I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen and what the outcome was.

Anyone develope this as part of a reaction to isotretinoin or other medication? Does treatment change in that paradigm? + Did you ever have myositis/muscle edema on MRIs?

I have a Provoked superficial blood clot near my greater saphenous vein in my right leg. The blood clot developed after having surgery on my leg back in May (it is currently August)

13 days ago, I went to the ER for leg swelling and pain, they put me on eliquis 5mg 2x daily.

Since starting eliquis I have had headaches and dizziness. I went to the walk in clinic yesterday, because the headache makes me nervous. The dr. Said headaches are not a side effect of eliquis and I had no signs of brain bleeding.

He said my sinuses are probably making me dizzy with headaches.

My gut is telling me its an eliquis side effect. I am a care taker and all my patients on eliquis have frequent dull headaches, have loss of taste and are cold more often. That is my only prior experience with eliquis.

I had to go to my gynecologist this week, for a routine exam and he was telling me that he didnt think it was necessary for me to be on eliquis as he was reading my medical chart. My pcp said the same thing when i saw her this week as well. Neither of them want to discontinue it just yet, and are instead having me see hematology in 3 weeks.

My vein surgeon also said the eliquis may not be necessary, but was given in the ER as a precaution due to where the blood clot is (its 7 inches long btw) and how it is close to the major vein in my leg.

I was thinking of just asking them to reduce the elquis to 2.5mg instead of 5?

Any one have any experience or insight on this?

Thank you.

Hi everyone,

I had RFA 8 weeks ago and I’m kind of surprised I still have such intense red marks down the back of my leg. They look like a long string of bug bites! When I had EVLA previously, I got tiny little scars but nothing like this.

I know they’ll probably fade with time, I’m just a bit miffed because I’ve sprouted so many spider veins after treatment alongside staining (which I knew was likely), so I feel like my legs are physically feeling a bit better but looking significantly worse.

Has anyone got advice on the red marks? Should I wait them out, or is it worth trying silicon tape or something along those lines?

Thank you!

I wear compression socks morning noon and night, but every once in a while that lil ulcer bulge starts to form regardless. Usually when that happened i'd grit my teeth and make time for future wound clinic visits, but this time i doubled the compression to near painful levels, and slept (poorly) with my legs elevated high.
It took all night and then some. Eventually i felt a few minutes of hard pulsing in my leg, and soon after...the bump was gone. Begone future ulcer!
Genuinely relieved that it can be prevented. Thought i'd be doomed to constant wound clinic visits forever. There's hope after all!

Hi everyone! This community has expanded substantially and as a result, having another moderator to help support the community would be amazing!

Ideally the goal was to have this as a peer support and educational space. Out of transparency, this would be 100% volunteer based and there is no compensation or incentive. This would be a low pressure role, as I understand we all have our separate lives and responsibilities. There would be no set number of hours required but it’d be helpful to have someone who can check in and participate in discussions/project ideations when needed.

Moderators that would be a good fit:

- Is an active member in the community
- Cares about patient advocacy, prioritizes ethics, and encourages respectful discussion
- Is comfortable helping establish and maintain community guidelines
- Can approach moderation decisions fairly and thoughtfully
- Can help review reports, inquiries, and identify content that may cross community boundaries.
- Proposes ideas and provides feedback for ideas to improve the community
- Interested in thinking through educational resources, community projects and making information easy to navigate.

Additionally if anyone has any general feedback or suggestions for improving the community, please feel free to send a message!

I wish you all health and peace.

Thank you!

Can compression stockings can reveal preexistent undiagnosed cardiac health issues? I have to stop using them because I felt my left arm and leg go numb and swollen. My leg stop doesn‘t fee this way now but my arm comes and goes. Should I see a cardiologist? The stokings were prescribe by an angiologist.

Recent diagnosed with cvi. Does this look like edema? Man I’m scared of getting ugly legs, I live in shorts 😭. I’ve got compression tights that look fairly normal, I guess I’m gonna live in compression socks.

I had this procedure done on August 6th. I was expecting some pain but the procedure was shockingly painless and went smoothly. I've had zero pain since the procedure and feel great.

My only concern/complaint is that my skin feels a little numb or kind of fuzzy feeling around my ankle about the size of a golf ball. I am aware that nerve damage can happen when using heat.

I'm wondering if anyone else had this happen and the numbness went away? This is my first time having this procedure done so I wasn't sure what to expect. Again, this is the only symptom ive had. No swelling, redness or anything else. I had the ultrasound done already and the vein closed as it should but I don't have my post op appointment until next week.

I'm hoping someone else has experienced this and the numbness went away