Varicose Vein Treatment

What are varicose veins?

Varicose veins are enlarged blood vessels that are blue or purple and highly visible as they bulge above the surface of your skin. These twisted and tangled-looking veins most often appear in your legs.

What causes varicose veins?

Your veins contain one-way valves that open to let blood flow toward your heart and close to stop it from going backward. When the valves weaken or become damaged, however, they let blood reflux or flow down your leg.

As the refluxing blood reaches the next healthy valve, it starts to pool in that part of the vein, a condition called venous insufficiency. Over time, the blood accumulates, engorging the vein, making it swell, and causing your varicose veins.

Certain factors increase the risk of weakening the vein walls and valves and causing varicose veins, including:

• Genetics (family history)
• Pregnancy
• Being female
• Old age
• Being overweight
• Standing or sitting for a long time

A traumatic injury to the vein and a history of deep vein thrombosis may also increase your chances of developing varicose veins.

What symptoms develop if I have varicose veins?

Your varicose veins may not cause any symptoms, but many people experience problems such as:

• Leg pain and discomfort
• Heavy-feeling or uncomfortable legs
• Swollen feet or ankles
• Restless legs
• Burning or throbbing feeling
• White patches around the ankles
• Dry, itchy skin
• Reddish-brown skin discoloration

Your symptoms may be worse in warmer weather, later in the day, or after standing for a long time.

What complications develop due to varicose veins?

Varicose veins have the potential to rupture, leading to bleeding that’s hard to stop. Venous insufficiency raises blood pressure in the lower leg. Over time, this high pressure leads to skin rashes and open wounds called venous stasis ulcers that typically occur around the ankle.

How are varicose veins treated?

Before recommending the treatment that’s best for your veins, Dr. Rosen performs a Doppler venous ultrasound. Doppler imaging allows him to diagnose your vein condition and create a personalized treatment plan.

No matter what type of treatment you receive, the varicose veins are permanently closed and then gradually disappear as they’re either reabsorbed or shrink.

Venous insufficiency and any symptoms you experience are also eliminated and your body restores healthy circulation by rerouting blood through other veins.

Your treatment options include:

Ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy

Using a tiny needle and ultrasound imaging to see your veins and guide the injection, Dr. Rosen injects medication called a sclerosing agent, which makes the vein wall collapse and permanently closes the vein. When treating larger varicose veins, Dr. Rosen injects a foam medication instead of a liquid.

Endovenous laser ablation

During endovenous laser ablation, Dr. Rosen inserts a catheter in a vein in your leg and uses ultrasound imaging to guide the vein to the end of the targeted varicose vein.

After releasing a local anesthetic, Dr. Rosen withdraws the catheter, sending laser energy from the catheter into the vein walls. Heat from the laser permanently closes the vein.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA)

Dr. Rosen performs this treatment the same way as laser ablation. The difference is that radiofrequency energy heats and closes the vein walls.

ClariVein®

ClariVein is another type of catheter treatment, but it doesn’t use heat. Instead, it uses mechanochemical ablation (MOCA), a technique in which the end of the catheter is a fiber that rotates, releasing a sclerosing agent precisely at the vein.

VenaSeal®

VenaSeal is an injectable, medical-grade adhesive that seals the vein walls together. The adhesive is delivered from inside the vein using a catheter.

When you want to eliminate unsightly varicose veins, call Rosen Vein Care or schedule an appointment online.