Conservative management starts with the simple things you can do to improve your symptoms.
Most insurance companies require you try conservative treatment for at least 3 months before they will approve treatment of symptomatic venous disease and/or varicose veins.
Common Conservative Management Techniques include
- Compression stockings
- Periodic elevation of legs during the day
- Exercise
- Weight loss when appropriate
- Anti-inflammatory medication
- Prescription Medical Food
The purpose of doing this is to see whether this will bring any improvements to your symptoms.
In some cases, it may but in other cases it may be just a temporary improvement. Whatever the outcome is, we will then evaluate your particular situation and decide which treatment options you may be a candidate for.
Conservative treatment will often not be practical for many patients, particularly due to work requirements, and progression of varicose veins may occur despite proper conservative treatment. Unfortunately, for some patients with severe deep venous insufficiency or postphlebitic syndrome, conservative treatment may be the only possible treatment option. This represents a small minority of patients with venous disease.