Health Tips

What can you expect from spider vein treatment? Simply put, better looking legs because although your doctor will not be able to make those veins disappear, he or she will be able to conceal it by making these appear lighter in color thus making these unnoticeable.

But how does that happen? This begins after the doctor has done all the necessary tests before approving this procedure. You will then be scheduled to come at a certain time so he or she will be able to get to work.

The most popular spider vein treatment these days is sclerotherapy. It last between 15 to 45 minutes and is relatively painless.

Before the spider veins are injected with the sclerosing solution, it will first be cleaned with an antiseptic solution. The number of injections to be given to a patient varies depending on the number of affected veins. This could be from 5 to 40 per session and after each one is injected, it is covered with a cotton ball and compression tape to make sure it does not get infected.

This procedure does not require anesthesia. You will be awake the whole time and you can listen to music, read or just talk to your doctor while you are lying down on the bed. You might need to shift positions several times so just follow what your doctor says so this can be finished.

After treatment, you will need to wear a tight fitting hose that is prescribed by the doctor. This helps against blood clots and also promotes healing which has to be worn for 72 hours or longer. You will feel cramping during the first few days after the injection. You wont be given any pain killers because this is normal so you just have to bear with it.

You should also expect your veins to look worse than they are now before it gets better. Any improvements will only be seen after 2 or 3 sessions so you will have to go back for your next one apart about a month. Since your legs are still healing, you shouldnt sit, stand, squat, carry heavy items or exercise.

If there are no complications, you will be like a lot of patients who are happy with sclerotherapy. You will feel proud of how your legs look that you will go to the beach often and wear that two piece suit or put on a mini skirt should you go to a party.

One thing you should remember thought about sclerotherapy is that it does not prevent new veins from appearing. It can happen and it is up to you whether or not you want to undergo through the same procedure again.

Sclerotherapy is a form of spider vein treatment that is done by a plastic surgeon. If you are looking for one, you should seek specialist that is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). These people are members of a bigger organization namely the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

So do you want to improve how your legs look? If you do, ask a doctor to see if you qualify for this procedure. It is affordable and painless which are the two things that any patient would want to look better than before.

You Can Help Eliminate Arthritis
Roger Carr

Are you aware that today over 66 million people have arthritis
or chronic joint pain? On average, that is approximately one in
three people that are suffering from arthritis at this moment.
That is almost as large as the population of Virginia…times 10!

Do you think the chronic joint pain caused by arthritis is
reserved for the elderly? It isn’t limited to those that are
older. Arthritis affects all ages. There are nearly 300,000
children in America with some form of arthritis or rheumatic
disease.

If you happen to be one of the fortunate who is not currently
suffering from arthritis, don’t think it is not affecting you.
Arthritis costs the U.S. economy $86.2 billion annually. That is
not a mistake. The cost to our country is in the billions of
dollars each year.

I know several people whose lives are impacted by arthritis and
related diseases. My wife is one of those. Kim continually
experiences joint pain due to arthritis and lupus. She takes
medications daily and frequently visits doctors and physical
therapists to cope with the hurting. Surgeries have also taken
place in the past.

Do you know someone with arthritis? You might be surprised at
what he or she has to go through to deal with the hurting. You
might also be surprised at the limits it places on daily living.

I decided to make a difference. I became a volunteer for the
Arthritis Foundation. They are the only national not-for-profit
organization that supports the more than 100 types of arthritis
and related conditions with advocacy, programs, services and
research. They partner with organizations to offer exercise
programs and courses specifically for those affected by
arthritis. They offer these programs in my own hometown of
Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Each year the Arthritis Foundation holds walks across the
country to raise funds and awareness. My team, the Pain Killers,
participated in the Fredericksburg Arthritis Walk this past May.
We helped raise more than $33,000.00 in Fredericksburg for the
Arthritis Foundation. I now have the honor of being selected as
the chairperson for the 2006 Fredericksburg Arthritis Walk.

I encourage you to honor that person you know with arthritis by
helping with the Arthritis Walk in your area. Get your friends
and coworkers involved as well. There are many ways to get
involved. You will make new friends and have fun while working
to eliminate the #1 cause of disability.

About the author:
To learn more about arthritis and to find an Arthritis Walk in
your area go to http://www.arthritis.org or call 404-872-7100.
To join or donate to Team Pain Killers go to
http://arthritiswalkfredericksburg.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=12&i=1
50101&g=1161782. Roger Carr is the founder of Everyday Giving
(http://www.everydaygiving.com) and a volunteer with the
Arthritis Foundation, Virginia Chapter.

What Is Arthritis?
Michael Russell

Arthritis is probably one of the most misunderstood of all diseases.
Quite honestly if you ask the average person in the street exactly what
arthritis is you won’t get an answer that’s even close. All they know is
that something hurts but don’t have a clue as to exactly what or why.
Before I go into the types and causes of arthritis I’m just going to throw
some facts at you. All of this can be gotten at the official web site if you
look hard enough for it.
1. In 1985 about 35 million people were diagnosed with arthritis.
Twenty years later the number is up to over 65 million.
2. Arthritis is the most common disability of Americans over the age of
15. Yes, young people can get arthritis.
3. Only heart disease is a greater cause of work disability.
4. The cost for treating arthritis in the US alone is over 86 billion
dollars each year.
5. Over 300,000 children have arthritis.
6. Half the people who have arthritis think there is nothing that can be
done for the condition.
7. There are actually over 100 different diseases associated with
arthritis.
8. Woman are more affected than men. The current numbers are 26
million women and 16 million men with doctor diagnosed arthritis.
How many of us knew all this? I certainly didn’t until doing some
research. Oh I knew about the poor lady in my church who’s about to
go in for knee replacement surgery and lives on pain killers. But I had
no idea this disease was this common.
So what IS arthritis?
A book can be written on the various forms of arthritis but the most
common MYTH of what arthritis is, aches and pains associated with
getting older, needs to be dispelled with quickly if people are going to
understand the disease. As I stated earlier, arthritis has nothing to do
with age as many children get it. Yes, it is more prevalent in older
people but it is not restricted to the elderly. Arthritis is a disease of the
skeletal system, mostly the joints which is where two or more bones
meet. Joint problems include pain, stiffness, inflammation, and
damage to the joint cartilage, which is the tough, smooth tissue that
covers the ends of the bones so that they can glide against each
other. It is the deterioration of this tissue that causes the pain because
what happens is you get bone rubbing against bone. The pain can
become so bad that it can interfere with everyday activities such as
walking or even trying to stand up from a chair.
However this is only one form of arthritis and only part of the problem.
Some forms of arthritis, called Rheumatoid arthritis effects the body’s
immune system and can ultimately end up damaging the heart,
lungs, kidneys, blood vessels and skin.
This is the most serious form of arthritis.
In my next article I am going to cover various treatments for arthritis
and their side effects.

About the Author
Michael Russell provides an online guide to arthritis which includes useful articles and resources for humans and pets.