How are varicose veins treated?
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Treatment options include home remedies and medical treatment. Exercise, weight loss, sitting with your legs above your heart, alternating sitting and standing, and wearing compression stockings are all things you can do at home to treat varicose veins. Medical treatment includes laser or endoscopic surgery, catheter procedures, injections, skin punctures, and vein removal. Be sure to talk to your doctor and insurance company about your options. Some of these options may not covered by insurance.Helpful? 1 person found this helpfulTreatment options include home remedies and medical treatment. Exercise, weight loss, sitting with your legs above your heart, alternating sitting and standing, and wearing compression stockings are all things you can do at home to treat varicose... More
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Johns Hopkins Medicine answered:There are several treatments for varicose veins, including compression stockings and surgery. In this video, vascular surgeon Jennifer Heller describes these treatments:
Helpful? 1 person found this helpful
There are several treatments for varicose veins, including compression stockings and surgery. In this video, vascular surgeon Jennifer Heller describes these treatments: More -
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital answered:Most varicose veins can be managed with non-surgical treatment such as compression stockings, which apply a steady pressure to the legs to help the veins and leg muscles move blood efficiently toward the heart. Exercise, elevating the legs when sitting, and avoiding long periods of standing can also help.
Endovenous Laser Therapy: During this procedure vascular specialists introduce a long, flexible, hollow tube called a catheter into the body through a needle puncture in the groin. The catheter, which is tipped with a laser, is guided to the varicose vein and inserted into it. Laser energy is shone into the interior of the vein, causing the vein to contract. The optical fiber is slowly withdrawn, and the vein closes up behind it.
Sclerotherapy: Sclerotherapy is a simple procedure during which doctors remove small varicose veins. Doctors inject a concentrated saline or other solution into the varicose vein, which irritates the lining of the vein and causes it to close up or collapse. Healthy blood vessels nearby absorb the blood flow of the collapsed vein. Patients usually wear compression stockings or elastic bandages for several days after the procedure.
Traditional SurgeryVascular specialists may recommend surgical treatment for patients whose varicose veins cause severe aching, infections, or venous ulcers, or whose varicose veins are particularly large or severe or involve large veins in the groin.
Ligation and stripping: short incisions are made in the skin along the leg, and the varicose veing is tied off, or ligated, by tying a small stitch around it to block blood flow. If only one valve is damaged, the ligated vein may be left in place. If numerous valves are damaged, doctors remove, or strip, the vein by using a special instrument to grasp and remove it. The other veins in the leg take over the work of those that are removed.
Most varicose veins can be managed with non-surgical treatment such as compression stockings, which apply a steady pressure to the legs to help the veins and leg muscles move blood efficiently toward the heart. Exercise, elevating the legs when... More -
Dr. Arthur Perry answered:A full examination of the leg and thigh veins is necessary before beginning any treatment of varicose veins. Often there is an underlying problem with the vein that connects the deep and superficial veins. It must be dealt with in order to prevent recurrence.
Traditional approaches to varicose veins include vein stripping and injection. Stripping is a formal surgical procedure that is associated with significant disability and scarring and a two-week recovery. When veins are injected, a chemical called sodium tetradecyl sulfate damages the interior of the blood vessels. The technique is effective but can result in phlebitis, deep and dangerous clots, and allergic reactions.
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A full examination of the leg and thigh veins is necessary before beginning any treatment of varicose veins. Often there is an underlying problem with the vein that connects the deep and superficial veins. It must be dealt with in order to... More -
UCLA Health answered:Varicose veins usually appear as swollen, twisted clumps of blue or purple blood vessels near the surface of the skin in the legs or pelvis. Peter Lawrence, MD, director of UCLA’s Gonda (Goldschmied) Vascular Center, notes that it is important for patients to be evaluated and treated by an expert in venous disease. “There are many new approaches to varicose veins and venous insufficiency. To prevent recurrence, a comprehensive approach is needed,” he notes.
“It’s not just a cosmetic problem,” says Cheryl Hoffman, MD, medical director of UCLA’s Imaging and Interventional
Center in Manhattan Beach, who treats superficial varicose veins using minimally invasive techniques. “Varicose veins can be painful.” She continues, “In most cases, we can easily close off problem veins using a catheter to direct laser or radiofrequency energy to heat the inside of the blood vessels.” Ultrasound is used to extensively map the vein physiology and blood flow and to guide the procedure. Unlike more invasive approaches, this technique, called endovenous thermal ablation, causes less pain, bleeding and bruising and enables people with varicose veins to return to normal activities faster.Varicose veins usually appear as swollen, twisted clumps of blue or purple blood vessels near the surface of the skin in the legs or pelvis. Peter Lawrence, MD, director of UCLA’s Gonda (Goldschmied) Vascular Center, notes that it is important... More
