Sclerotherapy & Vein Treatments
Varicose Veins
Do you have veins that appear dark and bulging in your skin? Varicose veins affect men and woman usually on the legs and around the ankles. The veins may look like rivers on a map and can appear darker over time. When damage to the valve in a vein occurs, the blood may become trapped. An evaluation is needed before treatment to determine the severity of the damage to your veins.
Spider Veins
Telangiectasia, or "Spider Veins" are small narrow blood vessels or capillaries that appear on the cheeks, side of the nose, thighs, and on the lower legs. They can be red, blue or purple in color and stretch across the skin. These broken veins are smaller that varicose veins, but can become varicose over time.
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The Procedure
Similar to IV Therapy, a small injection is made with a very small needle at the base of the appearance of the vein and sclerosing liquid is pushed through. The liquid used fill the vein is either a glycerin or saline solution. The vein disappears or turns white and then returns a few seconds later. This process is virtually painless and takes 15-30 minutes to complete. Multiple treatments may be necessary depending on the size of the varicose vein. Spider veins treated through injection normally only need one treatment.
Laser may be necessary to shrink vessels that are too small to inject. BBL (IPL) or Yag lasers are used to safely eliminate small veins and capillaries. The blood vessel coagulates while the surrounding tissue remains unaffected. A rubber band snap is how most patients describe the treatment. Non-surgical devices like these may require more treatments.
Aftercare
Sun exposure, crossing of legs, sleeping in odd positions are should be avoided in order to prevent future varicose veins. Compression hose should be worn on legs for 3 days after Sclerotherapy or laser treatments. This compression stops the blood from leaking back into the vessel. The hose should be at least 25mmhg.
Avoid hot baths, strenuous exercise, hot saunas, and aspirin for 3 weeks after your procedure. During this period you should, increase walking and frequently perform upper body exercises. Side effects include red patches of skin, brown spots around the site of injection, and swelling or ulceration of the vein. These side effects usually go away with time, but a follow up appointment will be scheduled a month out to check progress.
If these vein treatments sound like what you have been looking for,
please schedule online for an in-depth consultation with Dr. Debra Atkins.