FAQ
1. Don’t I need these veins?
For most patients, the spider or varicose veins that you developed are abnormal and unhealthy. They are not working effectively and are creating an inefficient pathway in your superficial vein circulation. Upon eliminating an unhealthy superficial vein, your body will immediately and evenly distribute the blood that needs to be returned to the healthy veins.
2. Will I run out of veins if I keep treating them?
Your body has a multitude of veins. Once you have inherited the propensity to develop spider or varicose veins, you cannot erase your genes for that. You CAN be proactive and treat your problematic veins as they occur. Most patients once they have completed treatment will need to follow a maintenance regimen to keep their legs healthy and problematic vein- free.
3. When is the right time to seek treatment for my varicose or spider veins?
If you have any of the following: heaviness in your legs, muscle cramping, throbbing discomfort, history of superficial phlebitis, leg swelling, and/or do not like the look of your legs due to unsightly veins, then you should seek treatment.
4. Will I need these veins in the future if I need to have a coronary bypass?
If your veins are indeed abnormally large and varicose then they are not suitable for using in a graft to do a coronary bypass. Many cardiovascular surgeons are utilizing the radial artery from the arm or the mammary vein from the chest if the superficial leg veins are not suitable.
5. Are the sclerotherapy solutions safe?
All solutions used to treat spider and varicose veins are FDA approved and have a long safety profile. The benefits are far greater than the risks. They are SAFE in the right hands.
6. Why don’t you use laser to treat the spider veins?
There are currently many lasers marketed for the treatment of spider veins, but the gold standard and most effective method is sclerotherapy. The best results from sclerotherapy come from someone with experience who is solely focused on the treatment of veins. The endolaser is used to treat large varicose veins and not spider veins.
7. I tried sclerotherapy, and it did not work on me. Can you use a laser to treat my spider veins?
Sclerotherapy is the gold standard for treating spider veins and smaller varicose veins following surgery. If the larger veins are not treated first ( you may need surgery) or the green reticular “feeding” veins are not treated then sclerotherapy will not be effective on the purple spider veins. Sclerotherapy is technique dependent. The injector needs to be meticulous and gentle. The more experience the better. A laser is utilized to do surgery on larger unhealthy veins. The laser is placed inside the vein and the vein is directly treated and not treated through the skin.
8. After sclerotherapy, my spider veins burst into many smaller red veins and now my legs look worse. Why did I get this reaction?
The larger veins need to be treated first and experience in doing sclerotherapy is very important. Also, many patients have different response rates. Some patients need more treatments than others.
9. When is the best time to get treatment?
All treatment modalities are minimally invasive and should not interfere with your ability to work and stay active. There is some bruising with treatment and this is unavoidable. Therefore it is recommended to avoid treatment if you need to publicly show your bare legs within a two week period.
10. I have a fear of needles, can you prescribe a pain medicine or put me under if I need a varicose vein procedure?
Although most patients have sclerotherapy treatment without any anesthesia, we can prescribe an anesthetic cream to numb your skin prior to doing treatment. If you need a varicose vein procedure, the risk of general anesthesia is greater than that of the procedure. Therefore general anesthesia is not used. If you need a procedure, we will prescribe medications to calm your nerves and we give you an Ipad to watch a movie.
© 2014 AlmiskyMD
For most patients, the spider or varicose veins that you developed are abnormal and unhealthy. They are not working effectively and are creating an inefficient pathway in your superficial vein circulation. Upon eliminating an unhealthy superficial vein, your body will immediately and evenly distribute the blood that needs to be returned to the healthy veins.
2. Will I run out of veins if I keep treating them?
Your body has a multitude of veins. Once you have inherited the propensity to develop spider or varicose veins, you cannot erase your genes for that. You CAN be proactive and treat your problematic veins as they occur. Most patients once they have completed treatment will need to follow a maintenance regimen to keep their legs healthy and problematic vein- free.
3. When is the right time to seek treatment for my varicose or spider veins?
If you have any of the following: heaviness in your legs, muscle cramping, throbbing discomfort, history of superficial phlebitis, leg swelling, and/or do not like the look of your legs due to unsightly veins, then you should seek treatment.
4. Will I need these veins in the future if I need to have a coronary bypass?
If your veins are indeed abnormally large and varicose then they are not suitable for using in a graft to do a coronary bypass. Many cardiovascular surgeons are utilizing the radial artery from the arm or the mammary vein from the chest if the superficial leg veins are not suitable.
5. Are the sclerotherapy solutions safe?
All solutions used to treat spider and varicose veins are FDA approved and have a long safety profile. The benefits are far greater than the risks. They are SAFE in the right hands.
6. Why don’t you use laser to treat the spider veins?
There are currently many lasers marketed for the treatment of spider veins, but the gold standard and most effective method is sclerotherapy. The best results from sclerotherapy come from someone with experience who is solely focused on the treatment of veins. The endolaser is used to treat large varicose veins and not spider veins.
7. I tried sclerotherapy, and it did not work on me. Can you use a laser to treat my spider veins?
Sclerotherapy is the gold standard for treating spider veins and smaller varicose veins following surgery. If the larger veins are not treated first ( you may need surgery) or the green reticular “feeding” veins are not treated then sclerotherapy will not be effective on the purple spider veins. Sclerotherapy is technique dependent. The injector needs to be meticulous and gentle. The more experience the better. A laser is utilized to do surgery on larger unhealthy veins. The laser is placed inside the vein and the vein is directly treated and not treated through the skin.
8. After sclerotherapy, my spider veins burst into many smaller red veins and now my legs look worse. Why did I get this reaction?
The larger veins need to be treated first and experience in doing sclerotherapy is very important. Also, many patients have different response rates. Some patients need more treatments than others.
9. When is the best time to get treatment?
All treatment modalities are minimally invasive and should not interfere with your ability to work and stay active. There is some bruising with treatment and this is unavoidable. Therefore it is recommended to avoid treatment if you need to publicly show your bare legs within a two week period.
10. I have a fear of needles, can you prescribe a pain medicine or put me under if I need a varicose vein procedure?
Although most patients have sclerotherapy treatment without any anesthesia, we can prescribe an anesthetic cream to numb your skin prior to doing treatment. If you need a varicose vein procedure, the risk of general anesthesia is greater than that of the procedure. Therefore general anesthesia is not used. If you need a procedure, we will prescribe medications to calm your nerves and we give you an Ipad to watch a movie.
© 2014 AlmiskyMD