Understanding Varicose Veins -What Are the Treatments for Varicose Veins?

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Understanding Varicose Veins - Treatment

What Are the Treatments for Varicose Veins?

A mild case of varicose veins does not usually require a doctor's care. You can find relief from the discomfort of varicose veinswith basic at-home treatment and various alternative remedies.
Superficial varicose veins normally do not require medical attention, but they should not be ignored. To relieve the discomfort, your doctor may recommend the following:
Compression stockings, which you can buy in most pharmacies and medical supply stores. Over-the-counter stockings include the support panty hose offering the least amount of pressure and the compression hose offering more pressure. Higher-pressure compression stockings provide the most pressure and require a prescription. Compression stockings are designed to help your leg muscles push blood upward by providing graduated compression with the strongest support starting at the ankles and gradually decreasing upward. Put them on before you get out of bed in the morning. Raise your legs in the air and pull the stockings on evenly; they should not feel tight in the calf or groin. You should wear them all day and also elevate your legs for 10-15 minutes several times throughout the day.
Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drug such as aspirin or ibuprofen to alleviate occasional swelling and pain.
If you notice skin around a varicose vein becoming ulcerated or discolored, or if you have continuing pain with no obvious outward signs, contact a doctor at once about the possibility of deep vein involvement.
Medical Procedures
Most varicose veins do not need to be removed. If particularly bothersome, varicose veins can be eliminated by one of several methods:
  • Laser treatment in which light energy from a laser is directed at the vein causing it to gradually fade or disappear; multiple treatments are required and the procedure is used to treat small varicose veins.
  • Sclerotherapy, in which a chemical is injected into the vein to collapse its walls so it can no longer transport blood
  •  ablation with catheter-assisted methods that use heat with radiofrequency waves or lasers to destroy and ultimately close the vein
  • Surgical removal, or stripping
Unfortunately, no treatment can prevent new veins from becoming varicose. Before pursuing a particular treatment, discuss all options with a dermatologist or vascular surgeon.

Do I Need Surgery for Varicose Veins?

The first line of treatment for your varicose veins -- those knotty, enlarged, and discolored veins caused by blood pooling in the legs -- usually involves lifestyle changes and compression stockings.
But you might need a medical procedure. Your doctor may recommend this if your varicose veins cause:
  • Severe pain
  • Skin problems
  • Blood clots
Some people also choose to have procedures to improve the looks of their legs.

Which Procedure Is Right for Me?

How will you and your doctor decide which procedure is the best choice for you? You will have to weigh several things in making that decision. Among them:
  • Your age and how healthy you are overall
  • The extent of your varicose veins
  • Your symptoms
  • How well you might do with specific procedures
  • Your goals and opinions about how you look and feel
  • What the doctor expects your condition to be in the future
  • Be sure to talk with your doctor if you have any questions about procedures in which you will be given anesthesia (a type of medical treatment that stops you from feeling pain during surgery). Your doctor may talk to you about “local anesthesia,” which blocks pain in just a small part of your body, or “general anesthesia,” in which you’re not awake during the surgery.
    The procedures to treat varicose veins fall into 2 categories: those that close the veins and those that remove them altogether.

    Ways to Close Veins

    When your doctor closes off a varicose vein, your blood flow simply shifts to other veins. After the vein is closed, it fades away. Several types of procedures can do this. They include:
    Sclerotherapy: Your doctor injects a solution into the vein that causes it to scar. This forces blood to change routes, going through healthier veins instead. Your collapsed vein is reabsorbed into surrounding tissue.
    You can have this procedure done in a doctor’s office.
    You may need several treatments -- usually 4 to 6 weeks apart -- to completely close off a vein. You won’t need anything to numb you, and the only discomfort you’ll feel will be the sensation of small needle pricks from the injections. You’ll need to wear compression stockings for a few weeks after each procedure.

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