Understanding Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI)
What Is Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI)
Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a form of venous disease and is a common result of valve dysfunction that occurs when veins in your legs are damaged, are too weak to do their job or don’t function properly. Chronic venous insufficiency is a deeper, more serious form of venous disease and is generally characterized as being an advanced stage of venous insufficiency. Chronic venous insufficiency often leads to venous leg ulcers, which represent approximately 70-90% of all chronic wounds. Due to the debilitating effects of chronic wounds, it is very important to understand chronic venous insufficiency and how to prevent, manage and treat it.
Normally, valves in your leg veins keep the blood flowing back up to your heart, but with CVI these veins can’t manage the blood flow as well as they should, and it’s harder for the blood in your legs to return to your heart. The result is that the blood begins to pool in your leg veins, leading to high pressure in the veins which causes pain and swelling, may lead to changes in skin color, and increases the potential for blood clots to form and ulcers to develop on your legs.
CVI can occur in any of your leg veins, such as:
- Deep veins, which are large veins deep in your body that run through your muscle.
- Superficial veins, which are close to the surface of your skin.
- Perforating veins, which are the veins that connect your deep and superficial veins.
What Causes Chronic Venous Insufficiency
Some of the common causes of venous insufficiency include:
- Long periods of physical inactivity, or a sedentary lifestyle
- Unhealthy eating habits
- Smoking
- Obesity and an unhealthy body mass index (BMI)
- Previous history of blood clots
- Weakening of valves due to old age
- Fatigued muscles
- Pregnancy
Symptoms Of Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI)
Chronic venous insufficiency may cause mild symptoms at first, but over time, CVI may interfere with your quality of life and ultimately lead to other serious health complications and the symptoms may get worse, or you may notice new symptoms, as your condition progresses. Chronic venous insufficiency symptoms appear in your legs and feet, and include:
- Leg pain such as aching, heaviness or cramping. The pain may also worsen with standing or sitting.
- Swelling in the feet, ankles or lower legs.
- Appearance of varicose veins, which are enlarged, twisted veins that are visible under the skin.
- Skin changes such as discoloration, itching and scaling of the skin.
- Fatigue in the legs and even the whole body.
- Restless leg syndrome characterized by the urge to move your legs.
- Thrombophlebitis, which is the inflammation of a superficial vein, that causes redness, pain and swelling.
How Can Chronic Venous Insufficiency Be Treated
When it comes to venous insufficiency treatment, there are several types of methods (surgical and non-surgical) for treating chronic venous insufficiency, including:
- Compression therapy
- Medications
- Nonsurgical treatment
- Surgical treatment
How to Prevent or Reverse Venous Insufficiency
There is no full-proof way to prevent chronic venous insufficiency, and once it occurs it cannot be fully reversed. But with proper treatment CVI can be effectively managed. The best approach for managing your CVI will depend on the severity of your particular individual condition. While there are several steps for treating chronic venous insufficiency, any treatment plan will generally include making lifestyle changes or modifications as the first step of treating CVI. This includes:
Leg elevation: Lifting your legs above the level of your heart for 30 minutes or longer at least three times per day can help reduce pressure in your leg veins.
Exercise: Walking and other forms of exercise can help blood flow better in your leg veins. Each time you take a step, your calf muscle squeezes and helps your veins pump blood back up to your heart. This “calf muscle pump” is known as your “second heart.” It helps blood in your legs defy gravity, and it’s vital for your circulation. So, making your calf muscles stronger can help improve your blood flow.
Weight management: Extra weight can put pressure on your veins and damage the valves, therefore it is important to maintain a healthy weight. If you are suffering from CVI, you should consider working with a health care provider or nutritionist to develop a healthy and manageable plan for achieving weight loss and weight management.