Tag: Vein Doctors in San Jose

ARTERIES AND VEINS….WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?…AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

Posted on by Michael Kokinos

As a vascular surgeon, one of the more common questions I receive from patients and from friends and family alike is what do I actually do?  I find the question interesting because before I went to medical school, I did not even know that the field of vascular surgery existed!  Vascular surgeons operate on the blood vessels all around the body including the chest, arms, neck, abdomen, and legs. One key thing to remember is that Vascular surgeons do NOT work on a person’s heart. Heart doctors are more commonly known as cardiologists and cardiac surgeons.

There are two different types of blood vessels: arteries and veins.  Arteries are the tubes that bring blood from the heart to the rest of the body including arms, legs, head, abdomen, and legs.  Arteries allow blood to travel at high speed with the pressure provided by the contraction of the heart.  Common health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes can result in blockages of the arteries that lead to the foot.  Once the blockages are severe enough, a patient can have pain in the calves and feet as well as ulcers or gangrene of the toes and feet that do not heal.  In addition to the effects on the legs, patients can also develop narrowing in the carotid arteries that supply the brain, the arteries that lead to the arm, and the arteries that lead to organs in the abdomen.

On the other hand, veins are the tubes that bring blood back to the heart from the body.  After dropping off oxygen and nutrients to the tissue, the blood returns to a low-pressure state and thus moves at a low speed in the veins back to the heart.  Because of the low pressure, specialized structures called valves exist in the veins to make sure that after blood goes back to the heart, the blood does not reflux back into the vein.  When reflux occurs, the venous pressure can increase and cause ulcers, swelling, and varicose veins in the legs.

If you have ulcers on your feet that have not healed or varicose veins or swelling in your legs that are limiting your life, do not hesitate to call our office at 408-376-3626 to schedule a consultation. We can help!

Visit our website at www.southbayvascular.com to learn more about who we are, what we can do, and how we can help restore your circulatory health.

South Bay Vascular Center and Vein Institute

 25 years of compassionate vascular care for South Bay communities

 

DOES FOOT PAIN WAKE YOU UP AT NIGHT

Posted on by Angelica Rodezno

Many patients as they get older, get up at night to go to the bathroom or because of difficulty sleeping. One serious problem that can wake people up at night is pain in their foot or toes.

This most often occurs in patients over the age of 65 who have a history of smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or high cholesterol. Some believe this is arthritis or gout, but it is often related to having poor circulation in the foot. The name for this in medical terms is “rest pain”. This is not “pain at rest” but rather pain that happens because the circulation cannot support the tissues even when they are at rest.

This is a sign of critical limb ischemia—another word for lack of blood flow. The arteries are so blocked that they cannot even deliver the minimal amount of oxygen the tissues in the foot and toes require to be happy. Patients often self-adapt to this problem, as it does usually develop slowly over time. They sometimes will tell you their foot doesn’t bother them at night, but on further questioning, you learn they sleep in a recliner or they sleep with their leg hanging over the side of the bed.

The trick here is that when the leg is hanging down, gravity helps pull down a little more blood to the foot so that it doesn’t hurt. Interestingly, the foot often also gets swollen, so the patient is often MIS-DIAGNOSED with a vein problem, not an arterial problem. …that’s why it is the “Right” experience that matters in diagnosing these kinds of vascular problems and why more local independent physicians refer their vein and vascular patients to Dr Kokinos than to any other vascular surgeon in the Silicon Valley Region.  https://www.southbayvascular.com/blog/the-right-experience-counts-when-it-comes-to-your-health/ The patient often thinks that they get up at night to go to the bathroom, but the truth is the foot pain wakes them up, they get out of bed because that makes it feel better (again due to gravity), they go to the bathroom because they think they have to (or maybe really do), and then they can go back to sleep pain -free for a couple of hours. Usually , the pain does wake them up multiple times a night, and that ‘s why they often end up sleeping in a chair.

If this sounds like something you or someone you love is experiencing, it is important to tell your primary care doctor or to schedule an appointment DIRECTLY with a vascular surgeon. These symptoms are a sign that your body is giving you that you need immediate help. This truly is a sign that your foot is starving for oxygen and blood and that if left untreated, might lead to an unnecessary amputation. Help is possible, however and if treated early enough, those suffering from these symptoms can be helped significantly.

If you suffer from painful feet in the middle of the night, contact us today  at 408-376-3626 to learn more about PAD and how Dr. Kokinos can help, click here.

South Bay Vascular Center and Vein Institute: We Offer Hope When Others Say There Is None.