Spider veins

The principle of injection therapy (sclerotherapy) is to inject a small amount of sclerosing solution into the varicose or spider veins. This causes the vein walls to become inflamed so that they will adhere to one another and disappear. After successful treatment the vein can no longer carry blood and it is no longer visible. There are already other normal veins in the area that are functioning in place of those abnormal veins which are treated. A large 6" elastic Ace wrap should be wom for 3 days, except when sleeping.

Concentrated saline, which is similar to your own body fluid, is a non-allergenic solution which is used for injecting the abnormal veins. A small amount of heparin is added to the saline solution. Theheparindiscouragestheclottingofthebloodwithintheveinsintheareaofinjection. Theremay be sometimes brief muscle cramping in the leg resulting from spasm of small blood vessels immediately following the injection. This usually lasts for 15 to 30 seconds and then disappears. Most patients describe this discomfort as being minimal and have not refused to continue with the treatment because of the pain factor.

The inflammatory reaction in the injected veins results in a transient, localized redness and minimal swelling which is apparent within minutes after the injections and usually lasts 3 - 5 days. This inflammatory reaction leads to the eventual disappearance of the veins which is part of the treatment process. The veins usually begin to fade by the end of the second week and fading continues through the fourth week. In approximately 40 - 50% of cases it is necessary to reinject some of the veins. This is usually done 3 - 4 weeks after the veins have initially been injected. The average number of visits will be approximately 5, but some may be 5 and rarely others require I 0 or more office visits. Many cases may be very involved and require multiple treatments and considerable patience by all parties involved.

Occasionally the blood within a vein which is injected does completely empty out of the vein as the vein is shrinking. This is called a trapped blood collection. A trapped collection of blood will spontaneously disappear, however, when doing so, it may result in the development of a brown pigmented spot in the skin. It is not possible to completely eliminate the chance of developing pigmentation at the sites of injected veins, however, pigmented areas usually disappear or at least fade to a considerable degree over a period of several months. Many patients state that the areas of pigmentation are less obvious than the veins which have been injected and are no longer present.

In approximately 2 - 3% of the patients a network of very tiny new capillaries may develop in an area in which other veins have been injected. This network of tiny capillaries will impart of red color to the skin and the size of the area is variable and cannot be predicted prior to treatment. In the remaining patients, these capillaries will either fade in completely or remain unchanged. If this occurs during the treatment process, the treatment may be temporarily delayed during with time the new capillaries will be observed to see if they fade spontaneously.

Very rarely a small sore (ulceration) may develop at the injection site due to leakage of the injected solution out of the vein into the tissue. Healing usually occurs without incident and with minimal scarring. This occurs in less than 0. 1% of patients.

In a given treatment session, the number of injections will depend upon the severity of abnormal veins and will also vary according to the presence of absence of communications between the abnormal veins. The number of treatment sessions will also vary according to the type and degree of severity of abnormal veins. The doctor will discuss with you what type of exercise activities you may engage in following the treatment session.

Patients should wear "ELASTIC STOCKINGS, NOT BATHE IN HOT WATER, WEAR SUN BLOCK, AVOID EXCESSIVE SUNLIGHT, AND LIMIT EXERCISE FOR TWO TO THREE DAYS POST TREATMENT."

Follow-up appointments are usually done 3 - 4 weeks after the last session until almost all of the disfiguring veins and capillaries have disappeared. KTP Laser maybe used at same time according to type of veins involved.

Photographs of your legs may be taken before, after and sometimes at various stages of your treatment process.

You may have questions that have not been answered in this review of the treatment procedure. If so, we will be glad to try and answer these questions for you. Contact us today.

THE PROBLEM RARELY REQUIRES ONE TREATMENT ONLY. MANY COMPLEX SPIDER VEINS ARE QUITE INVOLVED AND REQUIRE "MULTIPLE TREATMENTS" AND CONSIDERABLE PATIENCE IN THEIR ERADICATION.