Sores/Spots on Ankle & Very fat swollen Veins below the knee.

by Sunny.
(Brooklyn, NY)

I am a 40 year old man who has really never been to a doctor in about the last 15 years, because I have been fairly healthy. However for about the past 6 months I have been drinking a beer nightly. I am concerned because I have noticed two major things appearing on my feet and legs. On my ankles, I am developing little red spots that are growing into bigger sores. The skin over these spots is VERY thin and appears to look "wet". It's so thin that if I pass my finger over it too hard it looks like the skin will be broken. I also noticed many more of the tiny red spots that are not visible yet on camera, but that is exactly how the bigger "spots" started out, so it means many more of these sores are getting ready to form. At first I thought it might have been caused by seat from my shoe or socks, but I have tried to clean the area daily with rubbing alcohol, change shoes, and socks, and also use a antfungal foot powder to prevent my feet from sweating, but that has not helped..

Another problem I have is the swelling of my veins from my knees down. The swelling is very disturbing to me, because my veins are very very fat and sore to the touch. And I know it is an internal problem, and it is not caused from just standing on my feet at work, because the veins NEVER reduce swelling, even if I have been in bed all day with my feet elevated. I should also say that my father was diabetic. But I have never shown any signs of being diabetic, I have always been healthy and active. I am fit and able, and work 7 days per week. I have also stopped drinking any beer, as I have done many times in the past, and now I drink only water to try to cleanse my body.

I have enclosed some pictures to show what I am talking about, and I hope there is a doctor who can advise me on what I should do, and what could possibly be causing this problem.

I thank you sincerely for your time,
Sunny.

RESPONSE

Hi Sunny,

I think the time has finally arrive for you to see a doctor. Just looking at these small pictures, they do not look like the feet and ankles of a 40 year old.
As best as I can make out from these pictures, the darkness appears to be bleeding underneath the skin. This certainly could happen if you have chronic distended veins. You need to find out why they are chronically distended even when you are off your feet for the whole day. In most cases of venous insufficiency, the veins will not be swollen when you first arise in the morning.
Besides the pictures and the fact that you have one beer at night (which I do not think has anything to do with this), I would need to know more about you to actually come up with a definitive diagnosis. Outside of the more common problems that could cause your ankles to look like this, there are a lot of not-so-common conditions that could also cause your ankles to appear the way they do.
It is time to visit a doctor,specifically a vascular specialist; let he or she examine you, take a good history and physical and come up with a definitive diagnosis.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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