Long-term consequences of collapsed veins
By the time ‘new veins’ start appearing, vein damage is usually quite bad - the lack of veins means that blood is being pumped into the arm or leg faster than the veins can carry it away. This makes the hands, feet or whole limb swollen, puffy, cold and blue. This is irreversible. It is a sign that injecting has caused serious, long-term damage.

Collapsing veins mean that the return blood flow is reduced. Blood flow is essential to healing - without enough blood flow, injection sites and cuts become more prone to sores, infections and boils.

If the collapsed veins are in the leg or groin, small scratches and knocks to the feet and legs can’t heal and can form ulcers. These are incredibly painful sores that take months or years to heal.

Sometimes blood flow is so poor that areas of skin start to die, gangrene sets in and the infected bits have to be removed by surgery.

Problems such as:

• Infections that don’t get better
• Areas of skin dying
• Ulcers
• Gangrene

or

• Rings you can’t get off swollen fingers can get really serious.

If you experience any of these things, seek medical help early on - either from your GP or your local accident and emergency department.

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