Why Do My Legs Look Swollen at Night?
As the sun goes down, your legs swell up — what gives? Here, our experts uncover some possible causes behind leg swelling and why it’s a symptom you should never ignore. Keep reading to learn more.
What to Expect During and After Your Vascular Ultrasound
Ultrasound is one of the safest and most sophisticated diagnostic tools available, but if you’ve never had one before, we understand if you have some questions.
We never want our patients to feel out of the loop with their care. In this blog, our team of board-certified vascular surgery experts at Advanced Vascular Solutions has compiled a comprehensive guide to vascular ultrasounds.
Why do I need a vascular ultrasound?
A vascular ultrasound is an imaging test we use to evaluate your circulatory system, including your arteries and veins, all the way down to your capillaries.
We’re looking for problems in your cardiovascular system, like blockages, narrowing blood vessels, and sluggish blood flow, which can indicate you have a condition, such as chronic venous insufficiency, peripheral artery disease (PAD), deep vein thrombosis, or an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
We also turn to vascular ultrasounds to assess the circulation in your leg if you have a slow- or non-healing wound or varicose veins.
Do I need to do anything to prepare for a vascular ultrasound?
Vascular ultrasounds are noninvasive and rarely require special preparation. We encourage you to wear loose-fitting clothing to keep you comfortable and make the exam even easier.
What happens during a vascular ultrasound?
During your ultrasound, you recline comfortably in our exam chair. We apply a gel to and move the transducer over the examination area.
The transducer sends sound waves (ultrasound) into your body. Those waves reflect the blood cells moving through your vascular system and bounce back to the transducer. The information goes straight to our computer monitor, which generates and displays moving images on the screen.
What happens after a vascular ultrasound?
You can expect your ultrasound to take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the size of the examination area and the number of images we need to gather.
Once the exam is over and you’ve scheduled your follow-up appointment, you’re free to get right back to your regular routine. Our experts take time to review the images and discuss what we find at your next visit.
If we discover an issue in your veins or arteries, we walk you through your treatment options, which may include one or more of the following:
- Wearing compression stockings
- Exercise program
- Nutrition guidance
- Weight loss
- Disease-specific medication
- Sclerotherapy for small spider veins
- Radiofrequency ablation
- VenaSeal™
- Angioplasty or bypass surgery for peripheral arterial disease
If you still have more questions about what to expect from a vascular ultrasound, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Advanced Vascular Solutions team. We’d be happy to answer your questions over the phone or set up a consultation to address your concerns.
Call or click to contact one of our friendly staff members. We serve patients in the Melbourne and Sebastian, Florida, areas.
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