Varicose Veins

General Information

Venous disease is not an easily curable disorder, but its symptoms can be easily treated, and the progression of the disease can be halted by outpatient thermal and chemical ablation procedures.

Leg veins contain one-way valves that allow blood to flow in one direction and return to the heart even against gravity. When the valves become incompetent and diseased or leak, blood pools in the leg veins, and the veins can become enlarged, building pressure visible under the skin, bulging, what we call varicose veins.

Types of Vein Disease

• Spider veins: The small, thread-like colored veins that are most often seen on the surface of the skin.
• Varicose Veins: The large, “rope-like” veins which are often 1/4 cm or larger in diameter. Varicose veins generally grow over time and can result in substantial pain and complications if not treated.

Symptoms can develop due to impaired blood flow in the affected veins before bulging varicosities appear. The sooner we diagnose and treat these veins after symptoms are present, the better the outcomes are.

Symptoms

• Throbbing
• Fatigue
• Heaviness
• Night cramps
• Itching
• Restless-legs
• Numbness
• Skin changes
• Hyperpigmentation

Diagnosis and Treatment of Vein Disorder

Physical examination and venous ultrasound are essential components of venous disease evaluation, together with symptom recognition.

Medical therapy remains the cornerstone of venous treatment and its benefits have been proven even after the procedural approach. It consists of wearing compression stockings knee height 30-40 mm Hg most of the hours of the day, avoiding prolonged standing, enforcing leg elevation.

Invasive procedural therapy has been proven to be safe and efficient.

Venous duplex ultrasound evaluates all veins in the leg, determining the status and the degree of diseased segments, as well as the precise location and distribution of the affected veins.

Varicose Vein Therapy

Eliminate painful, unsightly varicose veins, skin changes, or ulcers with non-surgical Radio Frequency Ablation, Laser ablation, and sclerotherapy.

• Outpatient Office-based Safe Procedure. Excellent success rate.
• No scars.
• Most patients report improvement in symptoms in the next few days after the procedure.
• Continuous improvement in symptoms and cosmetic appearance is present for the next 2 months.
• Less swelling, improved walking distance, and exercise performance.
• Improvement in skin changes.
• No recovery necessary, with resolution of normal activities the next day.
• Typically covered by most insurances.

Endovenous ablation will close diseased superficial veins, redirecting the blood flow to return to the deep veins, avoiding blood pooling in the legs which can result in varicose veins, and improving your symptoms significantly.

The procedure is done under sterile conditions in our special procedure suite, outpatient. It takes about 60 minutes. Much of that is preparation time, including ultrasound prior to closing the vein. The actual ablation takes less than 10 minutes. If you need multiple veins treated, you will need different appointment dates.

Types of Ablation

• Radiofrequency ablation: Closure of the vein by radio wave energy (VNUS).
• Laser ablation: Closure of the vein by laser energy.
• Sclerotherapy: Chemical destruction of the vein.

What Treated Patients Are Saying…

• “My vein ablation went easy and painless, and they made me feel comfortable and at ease. The entire procedure went so fast!”
• “I was very happy after treating my varicose veins. The skin results were even better than I was hoping.”
• “My leg felt better after 2 days. I felt it even while driving; no more pain and heaviness. I am going next week for the other leg.”
• “If I knew I would walk that good after the procedure, I would have done it a long time ago.”
• “I am happy that I did the vein ablation. It is true that this procedure works!”