What Is the Treatment for Varicose Veins?

Many people with varicose veins have no symptoms, but some people feel pain in their legs, especially when they stand for long periods oftime. People with varicose veins will sometimes seek treatment for cosmetic reasons.

Conservative treatment 

In mild cases, doctors usually suggest that their patients exercise to improve circulation and that they wear support hose or stockings to promote circulation in the legs and the return of blood to the heart. Doctors also typically tell people with varicose veins to sit with their feet up as often as possible and to avoid standing for prolonged periods of time.

Interventional treatment 

Medical intervention can be divided into two classes: surgical and non-surgical. Varicose veins can be removed surgically via a process know as vein stripping. This process takes about 30 minutes and is often quite successful. Vein stripping is commonly used to improve the appearance of the legs. There are also less invasive treatments include sclerotherapy, endovenous laser therapy ablation, and radiofrequency ablation.

Sclerotherapy is the injection of a chemical irritant into a vein to "sclerose" or harden it. The chemical substance irritates the lining of the vein, causing it to swell and the blood to clot. The vein loses its function entirely. Most of the vein tissue turns into scar tissue. Blood flow shifts to nearby healthy veins. Endovenous laser ablation therapy is a treatment for varicose veins in which a laser source is inserted into the vein to be treated, and laser light is emitted that strikes the interior of the vein. This causes the vein to contract, and the laser source is then withdrawn. An alternative treatment is radiofrequency ablation, which is similar to endogenous laser therapy, but uses electromagnetic radiation of the radio-frequency range instead of laser light to close the vein.

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