Chronic or non-healing leg or foot ulcers are a significant medical problem amongst adults. Approximately 1% of the adult population will have these non-healing chronic wounds on the lower legs and ankles, and over 3% of people over the age of 65 will have these painful unhealed sores. These are wounds that just won’t go away and often start as small scrapes or cuts that continue to progress to large tissue defects of several centimeters or more. Many times patients are not even aware they have injured themselves and the sores can initially develop without any pain making it harder to notice them. Some reports state that 15% of older persons suffer from these chronic wounds especially on the lower extremities such as the legs, ankles, feet and toes.
Unfortunately, most of these types of ulcer wounds are not quickly and/or appropriately treated, either because patients choose to ignore them until they become large, or because many doctors are not well educated in their underlying cause and treatment.
A fact that is not very well known is that some 80% of these wounds are actually caused by underlying superficial venous insufficiency. This is the same disease state that causes varicose veins and spider veins, which is precisely what we specialize in here at North Beach Vascular. Even in patients who have been diagnosed as having diabetic ulcers, usually there is underlying vein disease, that when fixed leads to healing of the ulcers.
Patients should be on the lookout for the following these early signs of venous insufficiency:
If you have any of these signs or symptoms you should be evaluated for vein disease.
Additionally, if you have any of the following Doctor Gropper and North Beach Vascular clinic in Aventura / North Miami can evaluate you to get to the root cause, whether it be vein disease or something else, and recommend treatment options to resolve it:
These symptoms can lead to very serious complications including amputation if left untreated long enough. Therefore it’s critical to seek the help of a clinic and doctor highly experienced in evaluating / diagnosing and treating these chronic wounds. Call North Beach Vascular now at (786) 713-1611 or complete the form on this web page and we will be in contact by phone or return email quickly to answer your questions or schedule an evaluation.