Skiing with vericose veins.

[Shred87]

I have recently developed vericose veins in my lower leg and thigh. They appeared very quickly over the course of a few days. Since then I've been to the doctor and they checked for blood clots with an ultrasound. There weren't any. They said its kind of rare in someone my age (29) but it does happen and is usually due to being on your feet all day. My job requires me to do so. They recommended compression socks to help support the veins and help with the pain. In the short time I've had them I have found them quite bothersome and sometimes painful. Anyway, I have been skiing my whole life and obviously the first thing that came to mind is will I still be able to ski like I used to? I kind of feel like an old woman right now with my compression socks and pain in my legs and at the moment, the thought of putting boots on and skiing seems like it would be pretty uncomfortable. Sorry for the lengthy post but Ive almost gone mad worrying about it. Does anyone else ski successfully with vericose veins or am I going to have to get them removed?

[old goat]

I have recently developed vericose veins in my lower leg and thigh. They appeared very quickly over the course of a few days. Since then I've been to the doctor and they checked for blood clots with an ultrasound. There weren't any. They said its kind of rare in someone my age (29) but it does happen and is usually due to being on your feet all day. My job requires me to do so. They recommended compression socks to help support the veins and help with the pain. In the short time I've had them I have found them quite bothersome and sometimes painful. Anyway, I have been skiing my whole life and obviously the first thing that came to mind is will I still be able to ski like I used to? I kind of feel like an old woman right now with my compression socks and pain in my legs and at the moment, the thought of putting boots on and skiing seems like it would be pretty uncomfortable. Sorry for the lengthy post but Ive almost gone mad worrying about it. Does anyone else ski successfully with vericose veins or am I going to have to get them removed?

I had a patient with Klippel Trenaunay Weber syndrome--a congenital condition that's basically varicose veins on steroids. He had enormous veins, but it didn't keep him from being a HS running back. His profession was breaking horses. The legs never gave him any trouble with that. All he did was wear graduated compression stockings.
Make sure the stockings you are using are graduated compression.
At your age it would be worth seeing a vascular surgeon, especially if there is any swelling at the ankle--I would actually measure the diameter with a tape measure. The procedure to remove them is low risk and very little time off work, unless the cause is more complicated than the usual cause--which is a bad valve where the saphenous vein joins the femoral vein at the groin. Usually the vein is scarred shut with either radiofrequency or laser, not actually removed, although branches may still be removed. The main risk of the procedure is a blood clot extending up into the femoral vein, which is potentially serious, but very uncommon. (BTW--to a doctor groin does NOT refer to the junk. It refers to the area to either side where the thigh meets the lower abdomen and where the nerve, artery, and veins to the leg are and where hernias start--although hernias can go down into the scrotum.)