Vein Treatment Center in Hawaii: Questions to Ask Your Vascular Doctor

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When you first see a Hawaii vein specialist, the doctor will ask you a number of questions about your health history and that of your family, and about symptoms you may be experiencing. The doctor will perform a series of tests to evaluate your vein health, and then present the findings to you. At this point, there are a variety of questions that you should ask the doctor as well.

"What's the verdict? Are my symptoms due to vein disease or not?"

This is kind of an obvious question, since you are seeing a vein doctor to find the answer to it, but you would be surprised how many patients fail to ask it. This is your opportunity to find out whether the symptoms you've noticed are the result of vein disease or not.

"If I don't have vein disease currently, what can I do to prevent it?"

If your Maui vein treatment specialist answers the first question with a "No," the next thing you need to know is whether you are at high or low risk of developing vein disease in the future. Factors that increase your vein disease risk include smoking, obesity, a family history of varicose veins or other vein diseases, and inactivity. If you are at higher than normal risk, your doctor can present to you ways to reduce that risk and keep your veins healthy.

"If I do have vein disease, what are my treatment options?"

If the answer to that first question was "Yes, you have vein disease," your next question should be along the lines of "So what can we do about it?" If your vein disease is mild, the doctor may recommend conservative treatments involving diet, exercise, and wearing compression stockings. If your vein disease is more advanced – or if you have expressed a desire to get rid of your varicose veins permanently for cosmetic reasons – there are treatment options to do this. When the doctor presents them to you, you should ask follow-up questions like:

• "How long does each of these types of treatment take?"
• "Will their effects be permanent or temporary?"
• "How long will it be before I see results?"

"What would be the result of avoiding or delaying treatment?"

This, interestingly enough, is one of the most important questions you should ask. Many patients, when they first learn that they have varicose veins or other forms of vein disease, tend to "put off" having them treated, thinking that the diseases are not serious. This is a misconception. Varicose veins, for example, don't go away if you ignore them, or "get better on their own." They get worse. Asking this question allows you to find out how much worse they can get, and what the consequences are of delaying treatment.

Whatever your questions are, remember we're here to answer them

At Vein Clinics of Hawaii, we want our patients to be fully informed at every step of diagnosis and treatment, so they can make the best decisions about their own vein health. So when you call our vein treatment center in Hawaii at 808-214-5715 to set up an appointment for your venous health screening, feel free to ask us any question you want, and we'll do our best to answer them.

Author Bio: A Vein Treatment Center in Hawaii discusses the types of questions you should ask your vascular doctor about your varicose veins and how to eliminate them.