Venous insufficiency: Straight talk about 'silent disease'
Venous insufficiency, says vascular and endovascular surgeon Dr. Hadi Shalhoub is, "the silent disease."
That is probably one reason he is so vocal about it. Another is that, by his count, "70 to 80 percent of patients who come into (Sebastian's) Wound Care Center with a chronic wound come in with a venous insufficiency.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, "Venous insufficiency occurs when your leg veins don't allow blood to flow back up to your heart. Normally, the valves in your veins make sure that blood flows toward your heart. But when these valves don't work well, blood can also flow backwards. This can cause blood to collect (pool) in your legs. If this condition is not treated, you may have pain, swelling, cramps, skin changes, varicose veins and leg ulcers."