Varicose Vein Sclerotherapy
There are many ways to treat varicose veins including sclerotherapy (injections), endovenous laser, Clarivein, Venaseal (glue), surgery, and phlebectomy. This page covers sclerotherapy.
To view some photos of varicose vein treatments see the Ultrasound Guided Sclerotherapy page.
Questions and Answers
- What are varicose veins?
- What is sclerotherapy?
- What is foam sclerotherapy?
- What are the advantages of foam over liquid sclerotherapy?
- What kinds of veins can be treated?
- What are the alternatives to foam sclerotherapy?
- What are the risks of foam sclerotherapy?
- How many treatments will be required?
- At what intervals are treatments provided?
- What should I do to prepare for treatment?
- What should I expect following treatment?
- How painful is it?
- Do I really need to wear support hose?
- What is your cancellation policy?
What are varicose veins?
See the Vein Basics page.
What is sclerotherapy?
Sclerotherapy is a treatment for abnormal veins that involves the injection of various chemicals directly into veins. The injection injures the veins. The veins usually shrink or die. Your body breaks down dead veins.
Sclerotherapy is by far the most common treatment for abnormal veins.
What is foam sclerotherapy?
One of the substances that can be injected is a synthetic soap. Being a soap, it can be whipped into foam prior to injection.
What are the advantages of foam over liquid sclerotherapy?
The most important difference is potency. Foam is about four times stronger than liquid. This increased potency comes from three factors:
What kinds of veins can be treated?
Foam sclerotherapy is used to treat varicose veins. Small spider veins do not require foam; liquid is actually preferable for these little veins.
Any varicose vein can be treated including veins that are to deep to see at the surface.
There is no upper limit in the size of the vein for the use of foam sclerotherapy. Even the largest of veins can be treated (although the success rate drops as veins get larger). Until about 2002, the only option for treating these large veins was surgery. Modern techniques (foam sclerotherapy and endovenous laser) make surgery unnecessary in almost all cases.
What are the alternatives to foam sclerotherapy?
What are the risks of foam sclerotherapy?
Bruising around the injection sites is normal following sclerotherapy. These bruises resolve within ten days.
Allergic reactions can occur to the injected agents. The risk is so small that no one can put a number to it. Severe allergic reactions carry a risk of one in millions.
Extremely rarely, blood clots can form in the deep vessels of the legs. These clots may break loose and travel to the lungs. This can be fatal (about 1/10,000). Let's put that into perspective. Your annual risk of dying in a car crash is about 1 in 6,500. Your risk of dying in an accident in your own home is 1 in 7,000 per year.
At York Vein Clinic we evaluate your risk for blood clots before you are treated. If you have other factors (age, obesity, previous clots, etc) that add significantly to your blood clot risk, you will be given blood thinners during your treatments. This substantially reduces your clotting risk .
How many treatments will be required?
There is no simple answer to this. It depends on the extent of the vein problem.
Most people need one to three treatments for each leg that is involved.
At what intervals are treatments provided?
Treatments are usually spaced at weekly intervals.
What should I do to prepare for treatment?
Do not shave your legs the day of treatment. Tiny nicks will sting when we use antiseptic.
What should I expect following treatment?
A compression bandage will be applied that needs to stay in place for 4 hours. It should be kept dry.
You will wear your support hose overnight on the first night.
You will be required to wear support hose during the daytime for two weeks.
The injected vein will be a bit sore for a few days. Advil or Tylenol are adequate to help with this. The veins will be tender to touch for a few weeks.
How painful is it?
Except for the insertion of the needle, this is usually a painless procedure. Occasionally you will feel some discomfort when the vein goes into spasm almost immediately following the injection. This can be quite intense, but it only lasts a few minutes. Vein spasm always happens, but most of the time you don't feel it.
Do I really need to wear support hose?
When large veins are treated, support hose is required. It is an important part of the treatment. Use of support hose decreases the rate of complications (lumps and blood clots).
When spider veins are treated, support hose is not required, but it is strongly recommended to help reduce bruising and pigmentation.
What is your cancellation policy?
We appreciate two business days notice for cancellation of your consultation or treatment. If sufficient notice is not received, you may be billed a minimum of $100 up to a maximum of the value of the service that was to be provided.
This site is not intended to solicit business from citizens of countries other than Canada.
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