Varicose veins are those unsightly blue or purple lines and bulges that often appear across the legs and feet as a result of age, lifestyle, or heredity. While the effects of varicose veins are mostly cosmetic, in some cases they may cause discomfort and could put your health at risk. At Advanced Vein Therapy, we offer VenaSeal as a safe way to eliminate varicose veins.
VenaSeal: Permanent Treatment for Varicose Veins
Those gnarled, twisted lines that appear just below the skin’s surface are caused by problems within the vein itself. When the small flaps or valves that allow blood to circulate and flow through them to and from the heart become damaged, the blood pools and causes the vein to bulge and thicken.
More than 30 million people, or roughly one out of every four U.S. adults, are afflicted with varicose veins and are often attributed to a variety of factors. Things like hereditary, age, and pregnancy. They can also occur among people who are overweight and lead a sedentary lifestyle, as well as among those who stand for long periods on their feet.
Treatments for varicose veins have evolved over the years from invasive surgeries that require heavy sedation and a hospital stay to outpatient procedures that can be performed directly in a doctor’s office, requiring only local anesthesia and little to no downtime. VenaSeal is one of the latest and most advanced of these procedures. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015, it offers varicose vein sufferers the following benefits:
- Provides a solution for eliminating unsightly varicose veins;
- Is less invasive than other procedures, requiring fewer needle pricks and resulting in less discomfort for the patient;
- Reduces the chances for nerve injuries when treating the small saphenous vein, which originates in the foot and runs up the entire length of the leg. Which is an occasional risk factor when using thermal-based procedures to treat varicose veins.
How Does VenaSeal Eliminate Varicose Veins?
Numerous medical studies show VenaSeal to be both a safe and highly effective treatment for eliminating varicose veins that sit close to the skin’s surface. Unlike other procedures, which rely on light energy or radio waves, VenaSeal involves using a small amount of specially formulated medical glue to seal off the unhealthy vein.
Once this seal is in place, the blood is then forced to other, healthier veins and the diseased vein disappears. While VenaSeal does not prevent varicose veins from appearing in other areas, it does provide the benefit of closing the targeted veins permanently.
What You Can Expect During VenaSeal Treatment
VenaSeal offers the advantage of being performed as an outpatient procedure in our Boise office, leaving patients to experience minimal discomfort and little to no downtime. The following outlines what you can expect during VenaSeal treatment at AVT:
- A local anesthetic will be administered, which will numb the targeted area.
- Our board-certified radiologists will then insert a catheter directly into the damaged vein, using ultrasound as a guide to determine the exact location.
- The catheter delivers the medical adhesive, which is in liquid form but eventually solidifies inside the vein.
- Once the damaged vein is sealed, blood is rerouted to other, healthier veins.
Once the procedure is over, the catheter will be removed, and a bandage will be placed on the insertion site. Other than some mild pressure or stinging while the catheter is being inserted, patients generally experience no pain during the procedure and only mild bruising and tenderness afterward.
Unlike some other treatments to eliminate varicose veins, you will not be required to wear compression socks and can return to all of your normal activities the same day.
Contact Our Boise Varicose Vein Specialists to Request a Consultation Today
To find out more about VenaSeal and other options available for treating your varicose veins, reach out and contact our varicose vein specialists at Advanced Vein Therapy today. We will be happy to arrange an initial consultation to discuss the treatments available for eliminating varicose veins for good.