Professor Whiteley replies to Mary who asked how she would know if the eczema she has on her legs is due to varicose veins, or whether it is just normal eczema.

“Firstly, do you have any eczema anywhere else on your body? If you have eczema on your ankles alone it is much more likely to be venous eczema and due to varicose veins causing that problem. Even if you can’t see them, you may have varicose veins. If you do have any venous eczema, or what you suspect to be venous eczema on your lower legs, whether it be associated with varicose veins you can see, or whether it is just around the lower leg somewhere usually on the inner side of one or both legs, the most important thing you should do is to get a venous duplex ultra sound scan.

It is only through the venous duplex ultra sound scan that you can see if the veins are causing the problem and whether they can be fixed.