Page 27 - Tracy Anderson Issue

Dr. Nisha Bunke

children Ava and Aaron. With all of these new aspects of her life
Dr. Bunke has also managed to write and edit a 600 page book entitled
“The Vein Book,” with her favorite teacher and mentor Dr. John J. Bergan,
who has since passed away. “Working on the book was an amazing
experience. It was published by Oxford University Press and I co-edited it
with the late Dr. John Bergan. It is over 600 pages, and it is an extensive
study of all disorders of the veins and venous diseases. The book is
written by some of the most well-known and respected vascular surgeons
in the world, with each one having their own chapter. It is truly a life’s
work, and I am very proud that my chapter is in there among such note-
worthy physicians.”
If this isn’t enough to keep most people busy, Dr. Bunke has been working
for the last six years on a new medical recovery cream to help her patients
look and feel better. Dr. Bunke has teamed up with the inventor of
Abreva®, to bring this amazing new product to market. It is called
Recova® and includes the right combination of natural ingredients and
science to reduce bruising, redness, pain and swelling after surgery. It
is manufactured locally, here in San Diego. Patients particularly like the
soothing qualities of the cream. Although it was initially created for her own
patients, Recova® is utilized in plastic surgery and dermatology centers
with extremely favorable results.
So I asked Dr. Bunke to spend some time talking to me about her main
love, her medical practice. I wanted to know what types of problems bring
most of her patients to her office? “The majority of my patients are seeking
treatment for varicose veins. Most come to see me because they are
suffering with painful varicose veins. Sometimes, women will come
because they do not like the way their legs look with these varicose or
Dr. Nisha Bunke can easily be considered a pioneer in her field of spider veins. They often do not even realize that a lot of the symptoms
medicine. Hard to believe when you meet this beautiful young woman, they have, which are bringing them discomfort, are due to these veins.
but in fact she was the first physician in the United States to complete the When we do the procedures they are then amazed at how much better
fellowship training supported by the American College of Phlebology in the they feel.”
field of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine. This was a relatively new field of I was surprised to hear that it is often the cosmetic problem that brings
medicine when she began her fellowship at UCSD, under the renowned women to Dr. Bunke’s office and they do not know that there may in fact
vascular surgeon Dr. John J. Bergan. Since 2008 she has dedicated her be an underlying medical condition for which they should be seeking
entire practice to the care of those suffering from venous diseases. treatment. “Yes, the first thing we do is an ultrasound which will tell us if
Dr. Bunke is a native Californian, growing up in Lake Elsinore where her there is an underlying venous disease that is causing the varicose veins.
interest in service to others first surfaced. She was a Volunteer Firefighter Once we know what is behind the problem, then we can properly treat it. San Diego
when she was just a senior in High School. She went on to take a First What most people don’t realize is how far the treatment of varicose and Woman
Responder’s Course, and as a College Freshman at UC Santa Barbara spider veins has come. The treatment now is primarily Endovenous
she became an EMT, and went on to volunteer in medical Clinics. Along Ablation which is an image-guided, minimally invasive treatment. It uses
with her growing love of medicine, she also had a wanderlust which drew radiofrequency to cauterize (burn) and close the varicose veins. The
her to linguistics as a double major. She studied Japanese and spent a procedure is done in office and only takes about 30 minutes. Several
summer abroad fine tuning her language skills in Japan. treatments may be needed, but if the condition is due to a venous disease 27
Her love of travel and linguistics led her to take a year off after college most insurances cover it. Gone are the days of serious vein stripping
and accept a position to teach in Bangkok, where she hoped to add surgeries, the results are amazing and you can leave my office and go
the language of Thai to her ever-growing study of foreign languages. back to your normal activity.”
“Unfortunately, in the area of Bangkok where I taught, just about everyone As with any disease we all want to know if there are ways to avoid it, but
spoke English, so picking up the language was not as natural as I thought according to Dr. Bunke a large part of whether you get varicose veins is
it would be.” due to heredity. She has seen patients as young as 13 with them. There
At this point in her career Dr. Bunke realized that she definitely wanted are however some preventive steps we can take to help minimize the
to go on to become a physician so she began her Master’s program at occurrence, or at least lessen the severity “Unfortunately, women are more
Cal State and subsequently matriculated in Medical School. In Medical prone to them than men. Many women will get them after pregnancy.
School, she was able to combine her love of travel and medicine by an Some preventive measures are to not sit or stand for long periods of time,
opportunity to study abroad in England during her third year. Seeing the but if you have a sedentary job, try to get up and walk every 45 minutes or
practice of medicine in England and the Nationalized Healthcare System, so. While sitting try to have your legs elevated and flex your calf muscles
was eye-opening for Dr. Bunke. frequently. Compression socks are also helpful and thankfully they have
At this point Dr. Bunke’s career ambitions were pointing towards obtaining come out with some more stylish ones so more women are wearing them
a residency in family medicine and she saw herself with a future working now.”
with Doctors Without Borders, feeling she could utilize her love of travel, Most important of all is to not ignore symptoms such as bulging varicose
her linguistic skills, and her altruistic desire to help those who truly needed veins or achy legs. Even small spider veins, if prevalent in the inner ankle
her medical knowledge. So she obtained her board certification in family and inner knee area, can be a forecast of more serious problems. These
medicine in preparation for her future career. require a visit to a vascular specialist who can relieve you of the pain and
However, during her three-year residency in Southern Indiana, a rotation discomfort. “Sometimes patients live with the leg pain and restless leg
in the area of venous medicine grabbed her attention. It became of such syndrome for so long that they almost get used to it. They are amazed at
great interest to her that she had a deep desire to learn more. During this how much better they feel after they receive treatment.”
time she saw a lot of patients with venous leg ulcers and Dr. Bunke soon So if you are having any of these symptoms don’t hesitate to contact a
learned that this was a condition that could be cured, and these patients specialist. Not only will you be happy that the unsightly varicose veins
did not have to live for decades suffering with the pain of this condition. make your legs look better in a dress, but you will find out how much
She also started to realize that if she wanted to have a somewhat normal better you feel once the problem is resolved.
life, which would include not only her medical career but a family of her To set up an appointment with Dr. Nisha Bunke contact:
own one day, that perhaps focusing on this particular area might be an La Jolla Vein Care
all-around better fit. Dr. Nisha Bunke 9850 Genesee Ave #410
This led her to her fellowship, and to her current practice. In the last 5 La Jolla, CA 92037 (858) 550-0330
years she has added a wonderful husband Mike and two beautiful