VARICOSE VEINS – DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
REQUEST AN ASSESSMENT APPOINTMENT
ULTRASOUND VENOUS MAPPING.
- Unilateral lower limb
- Bilateral lower limb
TREATMENT.
- Ultrasound Guided Sclerotherapy (UGS)
- Radiofrequency Thermal Ablation (RFA)
- Simple Sclerotherapy (for spider veins)
- Compression Stockings
A doctors referral is NOT necessary for Varicose Vein assessment and treatment. However, we will update your GP with your progress throughout the treatment process.
A Venous Ultrasound Mapping is always performed prior to having a consultation.
ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT INFORMATION.
The origin and severity of the varicose veins will be assessed during an ultrasound vein mapping. You will then proceed to a consultation with one of the EchoNorth’s specialised doctors who will look at your full medical history and discuss your treatment options.
Radiofrequency Thermal Ablation (RFA) is a significant advance in the treatment of varicose veins. This technique “seals” the primary incompetent vein without the need for general anesthesia or surgery.
Ultrasound Guided Sclerotherapy (UGS) is used to treat smaller varicose veins, and is also used in conjunction with RFA. The process involves injecting a sclerosant into the vein under ultrasound guidance, which causes the vein to close.
After both treatments, blood flow is improved, as the blood gets “diverted” into the many remaining normal veins, and not though the treated veins.
Microsclerotherapy is used to treat spider (surface) veins. The process involves injecting a weaker sclerosant into an unsightly vein or other blood vessel to make it disappear. The results are usually seen after at least six weeks, with improvement continuing beyond this time, but the reaction varies between individuals.
VARICOSE VEINS – MORE THAN JUST A COSMETIC ISSUE.
WHAT ARE VARICOSE VEINS?
Varicose veins are enlarged, rope-like, twisted veins that appear as bulges on the skin surface. They are more noticeable in the lower part of the leg, as standing and walking increases pressure in the lower legs.
They are a hereditary condition worsened by many factors including:
- Age
- Pregnancy
- Obesity
- Standing occupations
- Hormones (contraceptive pill, HRT)
While the visual impact of varicose veins may be obvious, the symptoms that can be associated with them are not.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE THEM?
Many people may experience one or more of the following common symptoms:
- Aching
- Cramping in bed at night
- Pain
- Heaviness / tiredness
- Restless legs
- Swelling / throbbing
- Hot or cold feet
- Tenderness around bulging veins
If treatment is delayed, symptoms may progress onward to more serious complications, including:
- Thrombophlebitis (inflamed and clotted varicose veins)
- Pigmentation / Eczema
- Ulceration
- Haemorrhage (bleeding varicose veins)
- Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
HOW DO VARICOSE VEINS DEVELOP?
To understand how varicose veins develop, it is important to understand how normal veins work. Where the arteries take oxygen and nutrient rich blood from the heart to the muscles and tissues of the body, veins are responsible for returning the “used up” oxygen-poor blood back to the heart and lungs for recirculation.
In the legs, the blood in the veins has to defy gravity to get back to the heart. To enable this to happen, the calf muscles compress the veins, squeezing the blood towards the heart. Small non-return valves inside the veins open as the blood flows upward, and close to prevent blood from flowing backward (reflux).
Veins in the leg are much like a tree; the deep veins lie deep in the leg, between the muscles (“the trunk”); and the superficial veins lie in the layer between the muscle and skin (“the branches”). Like the branches of a tree, they are many in number, and ultimately join the trunk at “branch points”. It is at these branch points where the source of the problem often begins.
Varicose veins develop when there is an inherent abnormality of the valve connecting the superficial veins with the deep veins, or the vein wall itself, allowing it to enlarge, pulling apart the small valves. This in turn puts pressure on the valves below, eventually causing them to malfunction. With gravity, the blood flows the wrong way down these veins, along a “path of least resistance”, and ultimately become visible beneath the skin.
Some of the oxygen-poor blood that travels up the deep veins falls back down and pools in the abnormal varicose veins. As a result, toxins and fluid cannot be efficiently removed from the leg generating the symptoms described above, and in some cases, allowing small wounds to become large ulcers that can be slow to heal.
By treating the abnormal veins, blood can be diverted (much like a road detour) into the normally functioning veins to improve the overall venous circulation of the leg.
