K8 NZ

Part One of this post, which includes some background and a 'before' pic of the varicose veins, can be found here . The initial consultation involved a look at my veins under ultrasound.  He found that t he long saphenous vein, which runs from the foot to the groin (to join the femoral vein) was basically a dud.  In places, the vein had enlarged up to 8cm.  The treatment plan was to take the faulty vein out of service, hereby re-routing the blood through other healthy veins of the leg, relieving pressure on the smaller veins that fed into it, then  return after a few weeks to treat any that varicose veins that remained. Varicose vein treatment used to involve a full stripping of the vein - cuts along the affected vein and physically stripped from the body.   It involved anaesthesia, pre-procedure drugs and treatment pain medication, and a long recovery period.   Thankfully they've developed less intrusive ways of treatment now.. The clinic I saw uses a type

Disclaimer: I am not saying that those with varicose veins, of any degree, need to get them fixed.  My veins were really affecting my self-confidence so I made the decision to have them removed. I have decided to share my experience with varicose veins and treatment, in the hope that it may be helpful for anyone else out there wanting to do something about their own veins but wanting a better idea of what it involves. First of all, what are varicose veins?  "Veins are the blood vessels that carry blood from the body to the heart (whereas arteries carry blood from the heart to the body).  Properly functioning veins have a series of one-way valves that keep the blood flowing in one direction towards the heart.  Varicose veins occur when, as a result of various causes, the valves within the veins become inefficient (incompetent) and allow blood to backflow.  The blood pools in the area below the affected valve causing the vein to enlarge and stretch.  Varicose veins appear unde

Recently I ran 'comeback' half-marathon (race report here ).  It was my first in two years after I suffered a serious injury shortly after completing my second half marathon in 2016.  Since the injury (which took me out for six months), I'd not had too much interest in running, entering only a 5km and 10km event.  I've had a few setbacks including complications from varicose vein surgery as well which had put the brakes on any fitness gains.  It felt like there was a lot of 'starting again' over the past two years. I felt like I had unfinished business with the half marathon distance, and always in the back of my mind wanted to do 'at least one more'.  However, m entally, I wasn't quite ready to take a chance on training for another half marathon.  The desire was there, but the fear of re-injury was much greater.   After parkrun on a Saturday morning earlier this year, I said to the Great Forest Events race organiser, Chris, that I was thinking