Skinrepublic

Dear Dr. Jen,

I have varicose veins on my legs and I am still in my 20s.  What causes this?  Will vanishing cream work for making the veins disappear?

Tet

Dear Tet,

Varicose veins aren’t just unsightly, they may also cause pain after prolonged sitting or standing, swelling, skin color changes and scaling.  Varicose veins start to appear when the one-way valves in our leg veins lose efficiency in pumping blood back to the heart.

There are many things that cause the veins to appear.  Among them are age, pregnancy, genetic susceptibility, and obesity.  Being employed in jobs that may include prolonged sitting or standing, thereby compromising blood flow, also contributes to varicosities.  Constant crossing of legs may also slow down blood circulation.  Intake of some oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy may also indirectly result to varicose veins.

Treatment with a vanishing cream, or any other kind of miracle cream will NOT make the varicosities disappear. Vein stripping or ambulatory phlebectomy (both surgical procedures) will work for larger veins.  Sclerotherapy will work for the smaller ones.  Sclerotherapy involves injecting a chemical into the vein causing it to collapse and eventually disappear.  Laser works best for smaller spider veins. 

Your doctor will likely recommend an ultrasound of the legs to rule out blood clots and other irregularities. At this point, preventive measures will greatly aid in lessening aching symptoms and prevent appearance of more veins.  Wearing of compression stockings is a must.  If you are tired from a long day, prop your feet up. Exercising regularly will help improve blood circulation.  Avoiding prolonged standing, sitting or crossing of legs will make sure blood supply in your legs will not be compromised.

Dear Dr. Jen,

My legs seem very itchy after I go swimming.  Is it possible to have an allergy to pool water or the chlorine in the pool? I was okay with pool swimming when I was a kid.

Jethro

Dear Jethro,

Developing allergies later in life is very possible.  However, developing allergy to pool water or chlorine is unlikely.  There may be three possible things going on though.

It is firstly possible that swimming in chlorinated water dries up your skin which causes it to be very itchy.  If this is the case, applying a thick moisturizer right after your swim shower will remedy this situation.

The second possibility is that you may already have existing dermatitis (like eczema or insect bites).  Chlorine is well known for irritating damaged skin.  Treating your dermatitis properly will automatically stop the itching after you go swimming.

The third possibility is the disinfection byproducts (DBP) that the pool management is using may be the culprit.  You may ask a list of the chemicals they are using and give it to your allergologist or dermatologist.  If one of the DBP is an allergen, then you may want to consider swimming in the ocean or some other pool, instead.