Vein Condition
Heavy Legs
What Are Heavy Legs?
Heavy legs and ankles create a feeling of fatigue and weakness. You may get a similar feeling when you exercise vigorously or are dehydrated, but those situations are temporary. But if your legs are heavy and achy all the time and you have visible spider and varicose veins, your symptoms may be caused by vein disease.
What Causes Heavy Legs?
Heavy legs can be caused by several conditions. The most common culprit is chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a condition that occurs when the valves in your veins don’t work properly. Other possible causes include leg injury and peripheral artery disease (PAD), a type of cardiovascular disease that involves clogged arteries in the legs.
Treatments for Heavy Legs
Compression Therapy
In some cases, wearing snug-fitting compression socks or stockings can begin to ease leg heaviness in a matter of days. Your vein specialist can prescribe the right strength. The compression helps propel blood in the legs back to the heart. Your physician may also recommend elevating your legs for 30 minutes several times a day and walking more to improve blood circulation in the legs.
Radiofrequency Ablation, VenaSeal and Sclerotherapy
If the compression stockings help, it’s a sign that closing the faulty veins could relieve your heavy leg symptoms permanently. These veins can be closed using a quick, minimally invasive procedure. Options include laser treatment, radiofrequency ablation (closing the vein with heat), VenaSeal (a glue-like substance injected in the vein) and sclerotherapy.
The treatments are relatively painless and require little to no recovery time. Once a faulty vein is closed, the body reroutes the blood it carried to healthier veins nearby.
RELATED ARTICLE
Why Do My Legs Feel Heavy and Tired?
Heaviness in the legs isn’t just an annoyance. It may be a symptom of a chronic medical condition involving poor circulation in the legs. A common culprit is chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), but other conditions can also be the cause.