Hidden Varicose Veins

The symptoms and signs of “hidden varicose veins” are the same as those for varicose veins except that no varicose veins are visible.

Hidden varicose veins cause:

   aching legs on standing
   tired legs on standing
   heavy legs on standing
   tender legs on standing
   thread veins or spider veins
   swollen ankles
   venous eczema (red stains) around ankles
   haemosiderin (brown stains) around ankles
   venous leg ulcers
   superficial thrombophlebitis (commonly called “phlebitis”)

If you have any of these symptoms or signs you need to have a venous duplex ultrasound scan. No doctor or nurse can tell you that you do not have hidden varicose veins. Only a venous duplex ultrasound scan, performed by a trained vascular technologist who can check for incompetent perforators and other rare causes of reflux, can tell you this for sure.