Varicose Veins Glossary of Terms

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Ablation: Removal or excision. Ablation is usually carried out surgically. For example, su...

Anesthesia: Loss of feeling or awareness, as when an anesthetic is administered before sur...

Avulsion: Tearing away. A nerve can be avulsed by an injury, as can part of a bone.

Belly: That part of the body that contains all of the structures between the chest and t...

Blood clot: A mass of coagulated blood. A blood clot can block a major blood vessel, causi...

Blood clots: Blood that has been converted from a liquid to a solid state. Also called a t...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through ...

Calf: The belly or fleshy hind part of the back of the leg below the knee. The calf is mad...

Capillaries: Capillaries are the smallest of blood vessels. They serve to distribute oxyge...

Cardiac: Having to do with the heart.

Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen. The chest contains t...

Chest pain: Pain in the chest that can be a result of many things, including angina, heart...

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Circulation: In medicine, the movement of fluid through the body in a regular or circuitou...

Compression: 1. The act of pressing together. As in a compression fracture, nerve c...

Connective tissue: A material made up of fibers forming a framework and support structure...

Constipation: Infrequent and frequently incomplete bowel movements. Constipation is the op...

Cough: A rapid expulsion of air from the lungs, typically in order to clear the lung airwa...

Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. 2. A time withou...

Deep vein thrombosis: A blood clot within a deep vein, typically in the thigh or leg. The ...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Dilate: To stretch or enlarge. Also known as dilatate.

Doppler ultrasound: A form of ultrasound that can detect and measure blood flow. Doppler u...

Embolism: The obstruction of a blood vessel by a foreign substance or a blood clot that tr...

Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medica...

Estrogen: A female steroid hormone that is produced by the ovaries and, in lesser amounts,...

Femoral: Having to do with the femur.

Femoral vein: The large vein in the groin that passes with the femoral artery under the in...

Fetus: An unborn offspring, from the embryo stage (the end of the eighth week after concep...

Fiber: The parts of fruits and vegetables that cannot be digested. Fiber is of vital impor...

Genes: The basic biological units of heredity. Segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nee...

Groin: The area where the thigh meets the hip.

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Hemorrhoids: Dilated (enlarged) veins in the walls of the anus and sometimes around the re...

Incision: A cut through skin or other tissue performed by a health care professional.

Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular ...

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Inflammation: A localized reaction that produces redness, warmth, swelling, and pain as a ...

Knee: The knee is a joint which has three parts. The thigh bone (the femur) meets the lar...

Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures, and for preparing chemicals a...

Laser: A powerful beam of light that is used in some types of surgery to cut or destroy ti...

Leg: In popular usage, the part of the body from the top of the thigh down to the foot, an...

Ligate: To tie, as in to ligate (tie off) an artery.

Lungs: The lungs are a pair of breathing organs located with the chest which remove carbon...

Medical history: 1. In clinical medicine, the patient's past and present which may ...

Menstruation: The periodic blood that flows as a discharge from the uterus. Also called me...

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Obesity: The state of being well above one's normal weight.

Outpatient: A patient who is not hospitalized, but instead comes to a physician?s office, ...

Overweight: The term "overweight" is used in two different ways. In one sense it is a way ...

Oxygen: The odorless gas that is present in the air and necessary to maintain life. Oxygen...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Predispose: To make more likely or render susceptible. Smoking predisposes to a number of ...

Pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body. Thi...

Pregnant: The state of carrying a developing fetus within the body.

Probe: (1) In surgery, a probe is a slender flexible rod with a blunt end used to e...

Progesterone: A female hormone, the principal hormone that prepares the uterus to receive ...

Prognosis: The forecast of the probable outcome or course of a disease; the patient's chan...

Prostate: A gland within the male reproductive system that is located just below the blad...

Pulmonary: Having to do with the lungs.

Pulmonary embolism: Sudden closure of a pulmonary artery or one of its branches, caused by...

Radiofrequency ablation: The use of electrodes to generate heat and destroy abnormal tissu...

Recur: To occur again; to return. For example, a symptom, sign, or disease can recur.

Recurrence: The return of a sign, symptom, or disease after a remission. The reappearance ...

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Saphenous vein: The saphenous veins -- there are two, the great and the small saphenous ve...

Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of...

Sclerotherapy: The injection of a chemical irritant into a vein to sclerose ('harden') it....

Sensation: In medicine and physiology, sensation refers to the registration of an incoming...

Shortness of breath: Difficulty in breathing. Medically referred to as dyspnea. Shortness ...

Spider veins: A group of widened veins that can be seen through the surface of the skin. T...

Stage: As regards cancer, the extent of a cancer, especially whether the disease has spre...

Strain: 1. An injury to a tendon or muscle resulting from overuse or trauma. 2. A heredita...

Stripping: Surgery to treat varicose veins. The problematic veins are "stripped" out by pa...

Superficial: In anatomy, on the surface or shallow. As opposed to deep. The skin is superf...

Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity via operative or manual meth...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Tear: A drop of the salty secretion of the lacrimal glands which serves to moisten the con...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Thrombophlebitis: Inflammation of a vein that occurs when a blood clot forms.

Thrombosis: The formation or presence of a blood clot in a blood vessel. The vessel may be...

Tiredness: See: Tired.

Trauma: A physical or emotional injury.

Ulceration: The process or fact of being eroded away, as by an ulcer.

Ultrasound: High-frequency sound waves. Ultra-sound waves can be bounced off tissues by us...

Urinary: Having to do with the function or anatomy of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, or ur...

Uterus: A hollow, pear-shaped organ that is located in a woman's lower abdomen, between th...

Varicose vein: A vein that has enlarged and twisted, often appearing as a bulging, blue bl...

Varicose veins: See: Varicose vein.

Vein: A blood vessel that carries blood that is low in oxygen content from the body back t...