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IF YOU HAVE A HISTORY
of
varicose veins, painful swelling in your
legs or blood clots, you may be at risk for
venous stasis ulcers. A venous ulcer is a
skin wound caused when blood collects
or pools in the veins of the lower legs.
The first sign of an ulcer is typically skin
that becomes red or purple over the area
where blood is pooling. If the ulcer is in-
fected, you may see a significant amount
of discharge draining from the wound.
The border of the ulcer is usually irregu-
larly shaped, and the surrounding skin
may feel warm to the touch. If swelling
has occurred, the skin may appear shiny.
When it doesn’t flow right
The pooling is caused by a valve that
doesn’t properly return blood back to the
heart as it should, causing pressure on
the veins in the legs.
Venous ulcers are usually found below
the knee on the inner part of the leg,
above the ankle and below the calf. Ul-
cers can affect one or both legs.
“The best advice is to seek a vascular
surgeon or specialist if you or a family
member starts to experience any
signs of venous disease,” said Gino
Castaneda, MD, vascular surgeon at
The Jackson Clinic.
While venous ulcers are slow to
heal and have potential to return if
not treated, new ulcers are likely to
heal faster than larger ones that are
more developed.
So what do I do?
While venous ulcers can be painful,
treatment options are available. The most
important step to treatment and preven-
tion is to improve blood circulation. This
can be achieved by elevating the legs
above heart level as often as possible,
wearing compression socks and walking.
To assist with the healing process, your
doctor may remove the dead tissue from
the wound. If it doesn’t heal, the doctor
may recommend medicine, skin grafting
or surgery.
Even after an ulcer is healed, it is im-
portant to continue wearing compression
socks and walking as much as possible to
maintain healthy blood circulation.
Get a leg up on vein disease.
If you have been diagnosed with or have symptoms
of venous disease, contact The Jackson Clinic Vascular Services at
334-293-8922
.
Gino Castaneda, MD, recently joined Brian Sellers, DO, and Ishwarlal Bhuta, MD.
Venous
ulcers
What you need to know
Anything else?
Another venous dis-
ease that Dr. Castaneda
warned about: May-
Thurner syndrome.
“May-Thurner syn-
drome is often missed,
but it is quite prevalent,”
Dr. Castaneda explained.
“This occurs when the
artery compresses the
vein in the lower abdomen, preventing
adequate drainage of blood in the legs.
This leads to venous congestion in the
legs.”
While more common in the left leg,
May-Thurner syndrome can also impact
the right leg, Dr. Castaneda said.
“This is often difficult to diagnose but
easily treatable,” he said. “It is not uncom-
mon to encounter patients who have
had chronic venous disease for years but
don’t realize that what they have is May-
Thurner syndrome. After treatment with
minimally invasive procedures, patients
often experience a significant relief from
their symptoms.”
There are some factors that can
increase the risk of developing a
venous ulcer. Those include:
• Deep vein thrombosis
• Obesity
• Smoking
• Lack of physical
activity
• Extended peri-
ods of standing
500
THOUSAND
600
to
Venous ulcers affect 500,000
to 600,000 people in the
United States
80
%
90
%
to
The percent of all leg ulcers
that are venous ulcers
Gino
Castaneda, MD
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