Frequently Asked Questions

We think that YOU need to determine whether or not you wish to have something done for your vein issues. If in fact you have pain and swelling, you are certainly a candidate in the eyes of the insurance companies to have treatment which would be definitively aimed at removing them. If, on the other hand, you have spider veins, that is strictly a cosmetic concern, and the procedures to remove them would be at your expense.

The deep system of veins in your legs is the main route for returning blood flow to your heart, returning about 90% of the blood back to your heart. The superficial system returns only 10% of the blood. When you have varicose veins, the blood in your SUPERFICIAL system is traveling towards your feet, which is abnormal and is responsible for the symptoms you’re experiencing. MOST of this blood flow, however, does get into the DEEP system and flows back to the heart and lungs, with only a small portion flowing back down the legs. If we close down the reverse-flowing varicose vein “pipeline”, this makes sure that ALL of your blood – 100% – is now flowing in the proper direction toward your heart and lungs. This causes a significant improvement in your health, and removing diseased veins can only make you better!

After vein treatment, many patients ask if they need to be hospitalized and take time off work to recover. Our answer is: absolutely not! Hospitalization after vein treatment is a thing of the past (due to the fact that vein “stripping” surgery is no longer performed).

We encourage most of our patients to return to work IMMEDIATELY after their treatments. If a patient is undergoing ultrasound guided foam sclerotherapy, they can go back to work right away. If a patient undergoes laser ablation, which requires a local anesthetic in the legs, they can usually return to work that same afternoon, unless of course they’ve had some medications to lessen their discomfort during treatment – then we ask that they wait until the next day to return to normal activity.

Untreated varicose veins advance over time and can produce bleeding, blood clots and worst of all, ulcers. These are all potential problems if your varicose veins are untreated. Generally, however, these symptoms do not occur until much farther down the line of long-standing varicose veins. Whether or not you have treatment is based on whether you have pain and swelling and not so much the fear of having these other symptoms, unless you experience changes to your skin like dark brown pigmentation and thickening of the skin in your lower calves and ankle areas. These issues would indicate a much more advanced stage that’s referred to as “advanced venous hypertension.” This would require treatment of a more urgent nature.

We find that this claim is very common among many doctors in private practices. However, many of them are not aware of all the current developments and changes in the ever-evolving field of phlebology, or the treatment of venous disorders. We are. We use only the latest technology to treat vein disorders, and those include laser ablation, ambulatory phlebectomy, and ultrasound guided foam sclerotherapy. Vein “stripping” is an outmoded, barbaric and dangerous practice which we do NOT recommend to anyone.

Deciding not to treat your varicose veins is a valid alternative in a conservative management plan, provided you wear compression stockings and adopt an active lifestyle of walking at least a mile a day.

However, if left untreated, over time varicose veins will simply get larger and possibly discolor the skin (hyper-pigmentation), cause bleeding or venous ulcers. We recommend getting your veins treated IF you are symptomatic (i.e., have pain or swelling or other symptoms). We do NOT treat patients who have no symptoms whatsoever.

After treatment we recommend that patients walk a mile a day. We also recommend that you not perform any physical exercises such as weightlifting or related activities to avoid putting excessive pressure on the venous system. Ordinarily you can do most anything you want after two weeks after being treated for large vein disease or after cosmetic sclerotherapy. Long travels are ill-advised for at least two weeks after procedures. Everyone should wear compression socks on trans-continental flights.