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It is difficult to diagnose leg veins without ultrasound imaging. I would recommend meeting with your local vein doctor. He will likely perform an ultrasound on your leg to see if there is any venous insufficiency or if it is simply a spider vein.
When it comes to veins, an easy way to make a distinction between normal and abnormal veins is whether the vein is very straight or not. If the vein in this area around your ankle is very straight and fades in to disappear into your calf, this is likely your great saphenous vein and has no abnormalities with it. If you have a twisty, ropey, vein on your leg, these usually represent varicose veins that can be treated.
Bulging vein is very common sign of varicose vein dysfunctions, it needs full evaluation by a vein doctor, if the vein study is positive, laser ablation of the dysfunctional vein (called great saphenous vein) will solve the problem.
Prominent veins in the ankle area can either be normal or the result of varicose veins from above. If there has been a change in the appearance of the vein is best to do a venous ultrasound to look for broken valves in the veins above. If the veins are quite small, what we call spider veins, you do have significant varicose veins above. If the vein is otherwise normal-appearing it may just simply be normal for you and should be left alone.
A bulging vein around the ankle should always be investigated with a venous duplex ultrasound scan to find out exactly what is going on. However, as a general principle if the vein is horizontal and going across the ankle bone on the outer side of the leg, then it is often associated with varicose veins.On the other hand if it is vertical and in front of the bone on the inside of the leg, then it might be the bottom of the great saphenous vein. However, most people would not term this as "across the ankle".As with all veins in the legs, you should never have any treatment without a venous duplex ultrasound scan performed by a specialist vascular technologist who works within a specialist venous practice. This will show you whether the vein that you are concerned about is merely the only problem, which is uncommon if it is bulging, or if it is part of a varicose vein or "hidden varicose vein" pattern of problems.With best wishes
At the level just above the ankle bone on the inside of your leg is the origin of the long vein that runs from the ankle to the groin. This is called the greater saphenous vein. At the ankle level this vein is normally easily seen when standing and diminishes when lying. This vein contains many valves and can lead to varicose veins if the valves malfunction. If you do not have any other prominent varicose veins and your only concern is the visible vein at the ankle, this is probably normal. If you actually have varicose veins, then you should have a venous evaluation by a vein specialist.
The specific vein you are talking about just above the inside ankle bone is the great saphenous vein which may be quite prominent in some individuals and normal in most. Take a look at the ankles of most young people, they all have this vein just over the medial (inside) ankle bone. Yours may be very prominent. Endovenous procedures are not performed for this particular problem unless venous reflux extends all the way down here from the groin, called saphenofemoral venous reflux disease. If it involes the outside of the ankle, that is the short saphenous system in which ablation can be helpful. In most cases, if I understand your description, this requires a 20 minute office microphlebectomy procedure. Consult a phlebologist (vein specialist) or vascular surgeon who has an interest in phlebology.
Large vessels of the ankle area tends to be somewhat complex, with an increased risk of ulceration with sclerotherapy. I would consider consulting with a vascular surgeon familiar with all of the methods for treating varicose veins including endovenous laser techniques.Good luck.
With the new FDA approved chemicals for sclerotherapy, hypertonic saline is rarely used. It is toxic to the skin and cause caue necrosis of the skin if the highly concentrated salt solution extravasates out of the vein.
Laser and dermatologic surgeons have been trying to develop lasers to treat leg veins for over 25 years. Lasers sound scientific and sexy but they have never and will never replace or improve upon the results of properly performed sclerotherapy. Yes, sclerotherapy uses a needle and injects a...
Hello, Thank you for your question. IPL is not the best device for vascular irregularities, it does well on pigment, but minimal on vascular. The are lasers that exist that target only the blood vessels and spares all of the surrounding tissue. The target of the laser is the vessel, the...