Screening for the Overlooked Cause
Find Out If Vascular Disease Is Part of Your Nerve Pain
Not every case of tingling, burning, or aching in the legs and feet comes from nerve damage alone. Chronic venous insufficiency, a condition where leg veins struggle to return blood to the heart, can cause remarkably similar symptoms, and research increasingly points to a real overlap between the two conditions.
That's why every new patient at Peripheral Neuropathy Specialists gets a venous and vascular screening as a standard part of their evaluation. Using a Venous and Arterial Duplex Study, we check for reflux (backward blood flow) in your veins and reduced blood flow in your arteries, both of which can contribute to nerve-like symptoms and affect how well nerve-specific treatment works.
Dr. Mark A. Matey built this step into the practice's process after years of watching patients get treated for neuropathy without anyone checking whether a treatable vascular problem was part of the picture. If you're ready to find out what's going on, schedule your evaluation today.
Is This Screening Right for You
Who Should Get a Venous and Vascular Screening
If you've been told you have peripheral neuropathy, but you also have visible varicose veins, leg swelling, skin discoloration around your ankles, or symptoms that get noticeably worse after standing or sitting for long periods, a vascular screening is worth doing before starting nerve-specific treatment.
You're also a good candidate if you have diabetes, since poor circulation and nerve damage frequently occur together and can make each other harder to manage. And if you've already tried a neuropathy treatment elsewhere without much improvement, screening for an untreated vascular cause is one of the most overlooked next steps.
Every new patient at Peripheral Neuropathy Specialists receives this screening as part of their initial evaluation, so you don't have to decide in advance whether you need it.
What to Expect
What Happens During Your Venous and Vascular Screening
Your venous and vascular screening happens during the same visit as your free consultation and diagnostic evaluation, so there's no separate appointment to schedule.
The screening itself is a duplex ultrasound, a painless, non-invasive scan that uses sound waves to look at blood flow in your leg veins and arteries. The Society for Vascular Surgery, American Venous Forum, and American Vein & Lymphatic Society(opens in a new tab) jointly recommend duplex ultrasound as the standard diagnostic test for evaluating venous reflux.
There's no needles, no radiation, and no downtime. You'll lie comfortably while a trained technician moves a small handheld probe along your leg, checking for reflux (blood flowing backward due to weakened vein valves) and for any narrowing or blockage affecting your arteries.
Once your screening is complete, Dr. Matey reviews the results alongside your other diagnostic findings and walks you through what they mean for your treatment plan, whether that includes addressing a vascular issue directly, moving forward with nerve-specific treatment, or both.
Why This Step Matters
The Research Behind Vascular Screening
The connection between vascular health and nerve symptoms isn't a minor detail. A 2026 systematic review from Imperial College London(opens in a new tab) found a "potential association" between chronic venous disease and neuropathy, particularly in patients with more advanced venous disease, and earlier research from Mount Sinai identified measurable nerve-function differences in patients with venous insufficiency compared to healthy patients.
Vascular disease doesn't explain every case of nerve pain, but skipping a vascular evaluation risks missing a genuine, treatable contributor to your symptoms. That's why this screening is a standard part of every evaluation here. You can read more about how these two conditions relate on our vein-neuropathy connection page.
Who Performs Your Screening
Screening Overseen by Dr. Mark A. Matey
Dr. Mark A. Matey brings more than two decades of podiatric and wound care experience to every screening, including years spent helping open the Baptist Medical Center Wound Care Institute, the first center in Northeast Florida to offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy for wound healing. That background, working directly with patients whose nerve damage, poor circulation, and wound complications were often connected, is why vascular screening carries as much weight in this practice as any other part of your evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Anyone starting neuropathy treatment at Peripheral Neuropathy Specialists receives this screening as part of their initial evaluation. It's especially useful if you have visible varicose veins, leg swelling, skin changes near your ankles, diabetes, or symptoms that seem to worsen with prolonged standing or sitting, since these can all point toward a vascular contributor to your symptoms.
No. The screening uses a duplex ultrasound, a painless, non-invasive scan that uses sound waves rather than needles or radiation. Most patients feel nothing more than light pressure from the handheld probe, and there's no recovery time needed afterward.
Venous and vascular screening is typically included as part of your diagnostic evaluation and billed through insurance, including Medicare, so out-of-pocket costs are usually minimal. Call us at (904) 268-3686 if you'd like us to confirm your specific plan before your visit.
Our Bartram Park and Atlantic Boulevard offices both offer venous and vascular screening as part of a free consultation and diagnostic evaluation. It's a simple, painless way to find out whether a vascular issue is contributing to your symptoms, and most patients have it done during their very first visit. We look forward to seeing you!