You’ve developed varicose veins in your legs and they’re posing problems — cosmetically speaking, comfort wise, or both. Up to 35% of people in the United States may develop varicose veins, which means you’re in good company. Better still, there are many treatment options for varicose veins.
As vascular experts, Dr. Ariel Soffer and the team here at Soffer Health Institute pride ourselves on offering the most effective varicose vein treatments available, and we review four of them here.
The frontline treatment for problematic veins like varicose veins is sclerotherapy, which is especially effective for smaller varicose veins.
During this procedure, we inject a solution called a sclerosant directly into your varicose vein. This solution irritates the blood vessel, causing it to swell up and close off (rest assured, your blood reroutes itself to healthier vessels). When there’s no more blood flowing through the superficial vessel, it shrivels up and your body processes the remainder.
With FDA-approved Varithena, we introduce a microfoam into your varicose veins, typically with only one or two injections. This foam fills and blocks the vein, preventing blood from flowing through. Once your blood diverts to healthier vessels, the treated vein collapses and the microfoam is diluted in your bloodstream and flushed out.
Another great technique for getting rid of varicose veins is endovenous ablation. Using live imaging, we direct radiofrequency or laser energy into your varicose vein that causes it to collapse.
To deliver the energy, we insert a needle or catheter into the vein and release the energy in a quick burst.
Also called vein stripping, this procedure is usually reserved for larger varicose veins. During an in-office procedure, we first make you comfortable with anesthesia and then we make tiny incisions at the top and at the bottom of your varicose vein.
Then we make a small incision in your groin and thread a very small wire through to the target vein. We attach the wire to the top portion of the vein and then gently pull the wire through the lower incisions and draw out your vein.
Here again, we want to assure you that any blood that’s flowing through the varicose vein reroutes to other, nearby vessels, so your circulation won’t be compromised.
We perform each of the varicose vein treatments we outline above on an outpatient basis, which means you’re free to return home afterward. Rest assured, we provide you with complete aftercare instructions, which include recommendations like taking it easy for a few days and wearing compression stockings.
To figure out which treatment is best for your varicose veins, please contact one of our offices in Weston, or Aventura, Florida, to set up your vein evaluation.
