MOUNT VERNON – Problems with your veins and arteries vessels can be both painful and dangerous, said Dr. Stephen Vincent of Knox Community Hospital.
“They can either be blocked or narrowed or they can be too big, which is called an aneurysm,” he told the Mount Vernon News.
The hospital offers multiple procedures for the problems.
“There is ballooning and stinting,” Vincent said. “Then there is cleaning the artery. Then there is also surgical procedures, called bypass.”
Blocked carotid arteries in the neck can cause strokes.
“Some of the warning signs of strokes can be difficulty with speech, temporary loss of eyesight, inability to move an extremity like your right arm or right left but then all of a sudden it’s resolved,” he said. “All those are things that need to be evaluated sort of pronto. “
In the legs, patients can develop pain when they walk.
“It may get worse when they are going up an incline like a hill or stairs,” Vincent said. “Then, if you stop and rest, it goes away. That’s something that needs to be checked. It doesn’t necessarily mean you need a procedure, but it’s good to find out what’s going on. A lot of times the treatment may be medical — taking medicine and some dietary changes"
A lingering sore on your foot could also be a sign of vascular problems.
”Other things that are concerning are change in color of the feet, sometimes maybe one or two toes turn dark,” Vincent said.
Pain or swelling in the arms or legs can also be concerning.
Some of these problems are hereditary, Vincent said. But there are some things that patients can do to prevent them.
One of the most important things patients can do to prevent these problems is to not smoke.
“Nicotine and tobacco damage the inside of the arteries,” the physician said.
Losing weight and keeping diabetes under control is also important.
“Probably 50% of my patients are diabetic,” Vincent said.
Knox Community Hospital offers vascular screenings.
“We do a scan looking at your carotid arteries,” he said. “We make sure you don’t have an aneurysm, and we look at the blood vessels to the legs.”
The tests take only 30 minutes and cost $65.
“If the screening results show that there is a blockage somewhere, that will be sent to the family physician,” Vincent said. “If they don’t have a physician, the cardio-vascular department at the hospital would make arrangements to follow up with the patient.”
Call 740-392-8378 to schedule an appointment.
