Vein Treatments - Energy Assisted

What are Vein Treatments?
Unsightly veins, whether they’re just tiny thread veins or large, raised varicose veins, can have a damaging impact on a person’s self-confidence and can also cause a lot of pain and discomfort.
People commonly think that thread veins are purely a cosmetic issue and varicose veins a serious medical problem, but actually the two are often linked by an underlying vascular problem.

Varicose veins can be treated with traditional surgery, but there are a number of energy-assisted procedures which aim to produce the same results with minimal downtime and they’ve been listed below.

Sclerotherapy can also be a very effective non-surgical alternative for smaller varicose and thread veins.

Who is suitable for Vein Treatments?
Approximately 40 per cent of women suffer from varicose veins and, although they can be made worse by pregnancy or being overweight, the cause is usually genetic – if your mum has them, chances are you will too.

There are a number of different procedures on the market and an experienced practitioner should have knowledge of them all and advise which is best for you. Most are not suitable if you’re pregnant.

What’s the treatment like?
Veinwave is an ideal treatment for smaller veins such as thread veins and spider veins and for treating rosacea, because it is so controlled.
Using a process called thermo-coagulation, a fine needle is inserted into the veins, destroying them without damaging the surrounding tissue.
Endovenous Laser Therapy (EVLT) is a minimally invasive varicose vein treatment that is suitable for about seven out of ten patients – your practitioner can do a scan to assess this.
Usually performed under a local anaesthetic, a laser fibre is threaded into the treatment area and then activated, obliterating the whole length of the varicose vein.
VNUS Closure removes varicose veins by applying radiofrequency energy to heat and close the vein.
An ultrasound will be used to assess the position of the vein and then local anaesthetic is injected, before treatment starts. VNUS Closure is seen as even more gentle than Endovenous Laser Therapy.

Finally, ClariVein – seen as the future of vein treatments – avoids using heat energy to destroy the vein, which is the cause of the associated bruising and swelling.

Instead the lining of the vein is disrupted before a drug is used to close it off. There is no need for tumescent anaesthetic to be used so recovery is very quick and there is little discomfort.

What happens after Energy Assisted Vein Treatments?
Recovery varies slightly for each of these procedures, but they generally produce less bruising and swelling than surgery and you can usually be expected to resume normal activities soon after treatment.

The important thing to be made aware of is that this is not always a permanent solution. Vascular problems tend to be recurrent, so although the veins causing the original problem will have been killed off, this won’t prevent further ones from coming along and you may find that you need to have further treatment in future.

Will I have a scar?
Scarring is minimal with most of these treatments.

Plastic Surgeon    Cosmetic Doctor    Vascular Surgeon