Medical science keeps advancing, and that’s a good thing. As doctors in the best vascular clinic in Tempe and Sun City, we work with these advances every day. The vein disease treatment options we offer our patients are light years ahead of the treatments available to them only a few decades ago.
Many of our patients don’t realize this. The fact that they can walk into our CiC offices, have their varicose veins eliminated in minutes, and then walk out and return to work or home is something they take for granted. They assume that varicose vein treatment has always been this fast, effective, and painless.
But it hasn’t. In this article, the vascular experts at Comprehensive Integrated Care (CiC) explain what “treating varicose veins” used to be like. Then we’ll talk about what it is today. We think that when you understand how much vein treatment has improved in just a few years, you’ll better appreciate the care you receive at CiC.
What varicose vein removal was like a few decades ago
Most women (and men) who had varicose veins pretty much had to live with them. Conservative treatment such as wearing support stockings could help to minimize the symptoms, but couldn’t make the swollen veins go away. One of the only treatments that could remove varicose veins permanently was called “vein stripping.” And, yes, it was often as grueling as it sounds. A surgeon had to make incisions along the length of the diseased veins, and then literally scrape them out with a scalpel. Naturally, this had to be done in a hospital and under general anesthesia. As you can imagine, recovery from this procedure was long and painful. Also, the incisions often left scars that were as unattractive as the varicose veins had been.
Relax – modern varicose vein treatment at our CiC Tempe and Sun City locations isn’t anything like this
Among the advances in medicine that have been made since the age of “vein stripping,” two additional breakthroughs changed the nature of venous medicine forever. The first was the invention of ultrasound. Ultrasound gave doctors an inexpensive, portable technology to visualize diseased veins without breaking the skin to see them. This made possible a whole new way of diagnosing vein disease.
The second advance was the specialty of Interventional Radiology (IR). IR allows vascular doctors to treat varicose veins in a minimally-invasive manner. Instead of making incisions in the skin to expose the diseased veins, vein doctors can insert a tiny needle or catheter directly into the veins. They then guide it into place using ultrasound and use a number of techniques to seal the veins and close them permanently.
The advantages of this approach are obvious. Minimally-invasive procedures are so painless that in most cases only local anesthetics are needed. This means they can be performed in the comfort of your Tempe or Sun City vein clinics, with no need to go to a hospital. The procedures are so gentle that they require almost no “recovery time.” Most patients literally walk in, have their varicose veins treated in less than an hour, and walk out.
Modern varicose vein treatment options work better, too
Because there are no incisions, only a pin-prick, there is no scarring. Once the diseased veins are closed, they shrink, are absorbed into surrounding tissue, and disappear. Modern varicose vein removal is so effective that it has close to a 100% success rate.
Here are some of the treatment options we specialize in
At Comprehensive Integrated Care, vascular doctors like Dr. Karen Garby, Dr. Jeff Braxton, Dr James McEown and Dr Michael Makki are among Arizona’s most respected vascular specialists. They have years of experience performing a number of cutting-edge, IR-based varicose vein treatment options.
We’ll describe some of these procedures below, including links that will allow you to read more about them on our website if you want more information:
- Sclerotherapy. This technique is used to treat visible spider veins. With this procedure, we insert a very fine needle into the vein and inject a medication that causes the vein to close. The closed vein is then gradually absorbed by the body until all traces of the veins on the surface of the skin disappear. More than one session may be required.
- Radiofrequency Ablation. This procedure treats the underlying cause of bulging varicose veins. Using ultrasound, a catheter is inserted into the malfunctioning vein and radiofrequency energy is used to heat the vein, causing it to close. The blood is re-routed to normal, healthy veins and symptoms improve within days.
- Endovenous Laser Ablation. Similar to radiofrequency ablation, a laser fiber is inserted into the malfunctioning vein. Laser energy is used to heat the vein, causing it to close.
- Medical Adhesive (Like Super Glue). Finally, we are specialists in the use of the latest technique called Venaseal that uses a medical adhesive to close the malfunctioning vein. Benefits of this approach are that the glue sets within minutes, and there is no need for the heat associated with other types of treatment plus there is no need to wear compression stockings afterward.
If you want to learn more about these state-of-the-art varicose vein treatment options in Tempe or Sun City, give our specialists a call at 888-377-7122. Or go online on our CiC website to schedule an appointment. Our talented team of vein experts are happy to assist you.