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Bettini
Just LOOK AT IT.
As American cyclist George Hincapie pedals his way toward a record-tying 16thTour de France that started July 2, it looks as though his brain is escaping from his leg.
Actually, he’s suffering from an unsightly case of varicose veins, says Dr. Walter M. Whitehouse, Jr., a vascular surgeon and Medical Director of Restoration Vein Care in Ann Arbor, Mich. In Hincapie's case, it's likely caused by his hours and hours of sitting on his bike. Sitting or standing for long periods can put pressure on the veins and cause them to bulge.
“These are the ugliest varicose veins I’ve seen in awhile,” he says. “They are more severe than the typical patient. I’ve seen bigger, but these are just a huge mass that are clumped together.”
Varicose veins indicate veins are blocked or pressured and fail to function well enough to carry blood back to the heart. When that happens, vein walls stretch and people can end up with scary-looking legs like Hincapie’s that can ache, swell and cramp.
Whitehouse, also a surgeon at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., says upon first glance, Hincapie, 38, may need two procedures, one that uses radiofrequencies to collapse some veins, a second to remove the large mass.
“I’ll bet he doesn’t have any symptoms,” says Whitehouse, “because if he did, he would have done something about it.”
Related:
NBC Sports: America's best hopes for the 2011 tour
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Leave a Comment:
i just puked in my mouth.
That's what we're here for ;)
haha. mission accomplished!!
I'm sure there's a US healthcare joke in there somewhere.
Couldn't it be fatal if he were to fall and puncture his veins? Just curious!
You never have a pin where you need one...
Nasty.
I haven't seen a close up of his legs in 2-3 years. WOW, they have become SO MUCH worse. Doesn't his team doctor worry what would happen if he took a spill and cut into that?
Well, the vessels are veins, not arteries, so even if he suffered a large laceration to his leg it would bleed like a stuck pig, as they say, but it wouldn't necessarily be life-threatening or anything. Veins are vessels that return blood to the heart after they have passed through the capillary tissues, therefore they do not have the pressure behind them like arteries do. Also, veins do not have the elasticity that arteries do, so again, there is far less "spurting" that would occur with a deep cut. If he did severely cut his leg, he would certainly have to keep pressure on the veins to staunch the bleeding, but he likely would not lose dangerous amounts of blood in the meantime.
You probably already knew this, but I figured I'd try to help! Cheers!
LOL, yes, I was a Paramedic. No, he probably would not bleed out from that, but the ease of injury to such a large structure, especially the mechanism of injury, ROAD RASH, would be a very significant infection risk, and again, the size of that vascular area would exacerbate that risk.
Don't you want to make an incision, grab the vein from inside, and start pulling at it until the entire thing comes out of the little hole, like a tapeworm or an umbilical cord? Or is it just me
It's just you Christophuh. For goodness sake man, get some therapy! LOL! :)
And this is big news because.....?
If you have to ask, you'll never know.
Because big lumpy veins are just way totally cool! :)
(On other people.)
Not gonna get any dates looking like that.
Not if he's going to insist on wearing shorts.
George doesn't need a date. His wife is an ex-Tour de France podium girl.
a reminder of how unnatural cycling is, at least the kind of cycling these guys do
Ahh... sitting around on your gluteus maximus and becoming one of the huge, jiggling, morbidly obese Jabba-the-Hutts that now comprise over 20% of the US population is SO natural!
Ooch, the poor guy--it's painful just to look at. My varicose veins look sooo much better now.
I'm kind of puzzled as to why he hasn't gotten that taken care of. Frankly, the idea of having a mass like that on my leg - literally a CHUNK of veins clustered close to the surface - while pursuing a career as an athlete where leg gashes aren't at all uncommon FREAKS ME OUT. I realize he's probably not having anything but cosmetic symptoms, but wouldn't you want to head all that off at the pass with regard to it getting worse?
the doctor quoted is an idiot. It has nothing to do with sitting on a bike.
Thank goodness for that! The throttle I used to have on my genitals as a teenager would have surely caused this condition in my member if mere pressure caused it. The only difference between pink, purple, and horrendous disfigurement, is grip strength.
Vanity itself would have caused me to fix that...
Puts 3D at an entirely new level.
I used to have a blackhead that would unwind out the side of my nose like that! Awesome!
He probably spends his time between race stages repeatedly blocking and unblocking the vein that provides blood flow into the mass. That way he can watch the thing deflate and refill over and over again!
Isn't anybody else freaked out by the REST of the picture? That's a left leg, so the bike he's standing next to makes it look like his right leg has been replaced by some kind of cybernetic transplant - or maybe the cyborg's left leg has been replaced by a human implant. *shiver*
This isn't so rare. It actually looks like half the union represented employees that work at AT&T.
I bet that's a pain to shave. lol.