I had a dvt a year ago in my left calf and have developed varicose veins as well. I think they go together. Some of it is my age. I have a deterioration on the tiny valves in my my veins. These valves prevent the backflow of blood in veins as the heart pumps blood thru the arterial system. When the valves fail, there is back pressure and vein bulging from the pressure. That's my story anyway.

I've had varicose veins since my early 20s, blessed with family history of them. They are worse in my non DVT leg. But I notice more non buldging veins in my DVT leg have started to show over the last couple of years since the DVT. No idea if that's from the DVT, if it's new veins forming to compensate for the damage from the DVT. I'm getting older, and varicose veins usually get worse and form more over time. But I don't think having varicose veins themselves is related to my DVT.

I'm coping from one of our patient pamphlets:

"When a vein is completely blocked, neighboring smaller veins may enlarge to bypass the obstruction. These bypassing veins are called collaterals and can get quite large, particularly in the pelvis and abdomen in patients who have thrombosis of the big veins in the abdomen (vena cava) or pelvis (iliac veins). Such collaterals can sometimes be seen as prominent veins underneath the skin. If good collaterals have formed, symptoms of leg swelling and pain may not occur or may only be mild. However, in some people collaterals do not get very large and can, therefore, not carry all the blood needed to drain the legs or arms; this then leads to chronic leg or arm swelling, pressure and pain.

The best, most accurate, and most widely used medical term for this condition is venous stasis syndrome. If one refers to venous stasis syndrome occurring after a DVT, an appropriate term is postthrombotic syndrome. A good non-medical term is venous stress disorder. Lymphedema also refers to swelling of one or both legs or arms, but is usually not painful and does not lead to skin uclers. However, its causes are different: it is due to obstruction of lymph vessels (and not the veins) that leads to a lack of drainage of fluid from the extremities, and, thus, to swelling."

SYMPTOMS AND FINDINGS
OF POSTTHROMBOTIC SYNDROME
chronic extremity swelling
chronic (or waxing and waning) pain
unspecific discomfort of the extremity
diffuse aching
heaviness, tiredness and cramping of extremity
dark skin pigmentation (=postthrombotic pigmentation)
bluish discoloration of toes/fingers, foot/hand or diffusely of leg/arm
skin dryness
eczema
hardening of the skin
formation of varicose veins
skin ulcer (stasis ulcer)
atrophie blanche or white atrophy
(description in text)
dermatoliposclerosis


The clot I had from 1992 pretty much destroyed several valves and partially blocked the main vein. As a result the smaller veins are now doing the work and because of this are much more apparent. This is one of the reason why typical varicose vein treatment is not suggested in DVT survivors if the area of treatment is in the leg which had the DVT.

With my MTS, one of the first ever symptoms if I think way back was getting severe varicose veins (massive, like a string of thin sausages laid on top of the skin on your leg) in my right thigh in my first pregnancy.
Turns out this was because the right leg has been assisting with the blood return from the left leg for years, because of the constriction of the left iliac vein.
I did look into having the varicose veins filled with foam, some years back.
Good thing the doctor refused to do this (said veins were too large so too much foam would be needed, this would be risky) or I wouldn't be coping with blood getting around the DVT anywhere near as well, with major veins in my right leg sealed shut!!

I wrote this before, but in case anyone is thinking about the procedure, I thought I'd restate it. A surgeon had suggested a Vnus closure procedure for the varicose veins in my non-DVT leg. When I went to the Vnus closure website, I noticed that DVT and PE are possible complications. I refused the procedure (I have Factor V, heterozygous and APS, and am a Coumadin lifer).

When my cardiologist heard that the surgeon recommended this procedure, he had a cow. He told me I was definitely not a candidate for that treatment.

I wanted to relay this info., just in case it applies to anyone here. If you click on the physicians tab on the company's website, they taut the procedure as a way to bring additional income to a practice.

Karategirl,

Interstingly enough, within the blood clot specialist community, most doctors don't agree with the avenues that vascular surgeons take. For some people the surgery goes well but the possible complications are not worth the risk, IMHO. There are certain circumstances where vascular intervention is warranted (life/limb threatening) but overall the risk far outweight the need for treatment in all other cases (something not discussed enough in detail by Vascular Surgeons). But that's just my opinion.....

My Cardiologist wasn't high on it either. Ironically, I had an appointment scheduled a few days after the DVT for a consultation on my varicose veins. I had it scheduled like a month before I had DVT symptoms. When I asked my Cardiologist if I should pursue having the varicose veins taken care of, he said the procedure is likely going to cause me a lot of swelling and problems now and that he wouldn't recommend it.

They really are ugly, but I've had them for so long that I'm kind of used to it. During the summer, I use a self tanner to kind of hide them. Well, in my mind I'm hiding them. I'm sure I'm kidding myself. I just know the legs look better with a little color vs stark white with my blue and green relief map look. Pretty.

I have a DVT in my left leg and groin. I actually noticed varicose veins popping up several months before being diagnosed, but only in the leg where the dvt is. After being on lovenox/heparin for over a month, some of the veins have disappeared while others have grown more apparent and right at the surface of my skin. There are several very visible veins in the back of my effected leg as well. My right leg has nothing. At 25, I'd have to say theres some type of correlation between the veins showing up and the dvt. sad but true. :(

I was already producing slight varicose veins in both legs at the ripe age of 23 when I had my DVTs. My family has a great history of them, but my cousin is the only one who got her veins stripped several years ago.
3.5 years later, the DVT leg has more impressive VV on the back of the calf, and my left leg is getting them on the shin, but not as noticable. I've never considered getting them fixed. With my luck, I figured they'd just come back!
I'm with RMB; I do self-tanner in the summer to hide them a bit. Doesn't make them invisible, but it sure doesn't hurt!