Chronic venous insufficiency

If your legs have been bothering you, or you simply heard the phrase at an appointment, chronic venous insufficiency is a lot less mysterious than it sounds. According to my.clevelandclinic.org, chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a form of venous disease that occurs when veins in your legs are damaged.

The same source notes that venous disease in general is very common. For example, varicose veins affect about one in three adults, says my.clevelandclinic.org.

Start with the simplest questions

Four questions explain what CVI is and who runs into it.

• What is chronic venous insufficiency?
• Who is at risk for CVI?
• How common is CVI?
• How does CVI affect the body?

Questions about what you can do yourself

These three look at everyday steps and what can or cannot change.

• What self-care helps with CVI?
• Can CVI be prevented?
• Can CVI be reversed?

The most involved questions

Testing, staging, and care involve a clinician, so they sit at the end.

• How is CVI diagnosed?
• How is CVI staged?
• How is CVI treated?

One easy next step

This site favors low-cost, reversible steps, so once you know what CVI is, the self-care question is a natural next stop. Read it, then decide what to ask your own clinician.

Outside this site, you can read the Society of Interventional Radiology on superficial venous disease, MedlinePlus on varicose veins and spider veins, my.clevelandclinic.org on edema, and my.clevelandclinic.org on endovenous ablation.

Nothing here stands in for your own clinician's advice.