What the understanding means and how we can cure many venous leg ulcers

Diagram explaining how failure of valves in the superficial veins (superficial venous reflux) can cause venous eczema and leg ulcers - by Mark Whiteley

Therefore curing ulcers, or preventing them, simply comes down to stopping the reverse flow of blood down the veins that causes inflammation and damage to the skin.

DEEP VEINS - cannot be treated and so in these 40% of patients, there will still be a need for tight bandages and pressure stockings.

SUPERFICIAL VEINS - All of these should be amenable to treatment using the new techniques that we are developing - Therefore using these, 60% of people with leg ulcers, or those developing leg ulcers, should be perfectly curable by this approach.

Simply binding the leg, or using a pressure stocking, is only a temporary solution in such patients and is delaying the treatment that they need.

Dressings or creams similarly are not important in those patients who are curable. You cannot cure a venous ulcer by a dressing or a cream.

However, if the patient is one of the 40% who cannot be cured by surgery, then dressings become important for COMFORT - NOT for CURE.

Creams used on skin breaking down at the ankle have no effect and should not be used. Indeed, using these creams may damage the skin if they contain steroids and until the veins are fixed, the skin cannot heal.

Therefore if venous damage is suspected, no cream should be used until the patient has been investigated by Duplex Ultrasound and a specialist venous surgical opinion has been sought.

Occlusion of the incompetent Great Saphenous Vein stops venous reflux, therefore stops the inflammation, which allows the ulcer to cure - by Mark Whiteley