Varicose veins may appear and not cause any discomfort, so there may be a temptation to leave them there, without going to a specialist for analysis and treatment. This is a serious mistake, because varicose veins, even if they do not cause discomfort at first, can cause serious complications.
What are the risks of varicose veins?
Untreated varicose veins can cause phlebitis, thrombosis, skin eczema, changes in skin color and ulceration.
Alterations in the color of the skin are very typical, specifically occurring on the inside of the ankles and a few centimeters above the ankle. The skin begins to change color until it becomes a coffee with milk color. This means that the varicose veins are already causing a very severe venous insufficiency and are even affecting the skin. This, in turn, is a sign that ulcers may form at a later stage, as the epithelial tissue of this skin dies and erosion, ulceration, is formed.
A leg ulcer requires a lot of treatment, many uncomfortable and painful treatments. To make an understandable simile, an ulcer is much deeper than a burn, and if the latter is already uncomfortable, we can get an idea of what an ulcer means, which also requires specific treatments and a lot of rest.
Thrombosis due to varicose veins
The most serious complication of varicose veins is thrombosis, which can even lead to pulmonary embolism. Special care must be taken with this because if it occurs in an elderly person with certain circumstances, an embolism can lead to death.
Therefore, we must be careful with varicose veins, we must study them and advise to treat them all, because the complications of varicose veins do not warn. If you have varicose veins without discomfort, complications can present themselves without warning and almost all of them are complications, at least, of very long evolution.