Best Varicose Vein Treatment without Surgery
Varicose veins are large trunk-like blood vessels that protrude out of the surface of the skin in a twisted form. They are essentially blood vessels with excess accumulated blood and they’re caused by a circulatory disorder known as chronic venous insufficiency.
Venous insufficiency is a serious circulatory disorder that gets worse with time. The vein valves in your body act as one-way doors to facilitate blood flow to the heart and prevent blood from flowing back down due to gravity. When these vein valves collapse, blood flows back down and accumulates in your leg veins, which leads to vein dilation and the formation of varicose veins.
If left untreated, venous insufficiency can lead to serious complications like skin discoloration, skin diseases, swollen ankles and feet, profuse bleeding from varicose veins, leg ulcers, and even deep vein thrombosis. That’s why you need to see varicose vein removal treatment as soon as possible.
However, while seeking varicose vein treatment, you should also avoid surgeries. In the past, varicose veins could only be treated with risky surgical procedures like vein stripping. However, thanks to advanced technologies, varicose vein treatment is minimally invasive and non-surgical.
In this article, we discuss the benefits of minimally invasive treatment for varicose veins and what is the best varicose vein treatment without surgery.
Benefits of Minimally Invasive Treatment for Varicose Veins over Vein Stripping
Historically, varicose veins could only be treated with surgical procedures that were complicated and risky. Vascular surgeries like vein stripping, vein ligation, and venous bypass surgery had a relatively low success rate of 85% and they had an incredibly high risk of complications like deep vein thrombosis and infections. Furthermore, the patient also had to be admitted to the hospital and the procedure included a long recovery time.
Modern minimally invasive and non-surgical varicose vein treatments have numerous benefits over vascular surgeries:
- High success rate of 97%.
- Negligible risk of side effects and complications.
- Minimal pain or discomfort experienced either during or after treatment.
- In-office procedures that conclude within an hour.
- No recovery downtime so you can resume your daily activities almost immediately after the procedure.
- No need to be hospitalized.
Best Non-Surgical Varicose Vein Removal Treatment
Now that you understand why it’s important to seek non-surgical varicose vein removal treatment, it’s time you familiarize yourself with some of the best minimally invasive treatments.
Radiofrequency Ablation
Radiofrequency ablation is widely hailed as the best varicose vein treatment available. This is a procedure in which the vein doctor uses heat energy to close the diseased saphenous vein and restore blood circulation to the heart.
During the procedure, the vein doctor creates an incision on your thighs and inserts a catheter under ultrasound guidance. Once the catheter is lodged inside the diseased saphenous vein, the doctor applies tumescent anesthesia to the vein walls to protect the surrounding tissues.
Following that, the vein doctor activates the catheter to generate heat energy that destroys the vein. The accumulated blood reroutes to healthier veins and the diseased vein gets absorbed by the body.
Endovenous Laser Ablation
Endovenous laser ablation is a varicose vein treatment in which the vein doctor uses laser energy to close the diseased saphenous vein and restore blood circulation to the heart.
During the procedure, the vein doctor creates an incision on your thighs and inserts a catheter hooked to a laser fiber under ultrasound guidance. Once the laser fiber and catheter are inside the diseased vein, the doctor will inject anesthesia along the walls of the saphenous vein. Once that’s done, the vein doctor will trigger the laser fiber to generate laser energy that destroys the diseased vein.
The accumulated blood will reroute to healthy veins and the diseased vein will harden and get absorbed by the body. This procedure, however, will cause more post-procedural discomfort after the anesthesia wears off, which is why it’s not as popular as radiofrequency ablation.
VenaSeal
VenaSeal is a procedure in which the vein doctor uses a varicose vein removal injection to insert a medical adhesive into the diseased vein. This adhesive fuses the vein walls, essentially closing it down.
The accumulated blood reroutes to healthy veins and the affected vein hardens and gets absorbed by the body. This procedure is extremely new and it has only recently been approved by the FDA.
Ambulatory Phlebectomy
The aforementioned varicose vein treatments cure the underlying vein disease, but they don’t necessarily remove all of the superficial varicose veins. That’s where ambulatory phlebectomy comes in.
This is a procedure in which the vein doctor creates several incisions on the surface of your skin and physically removes the superficial varicose veins. This is a cosmetic treatment and enhances the visual appearance of your legs.
Are Varicose Veins Treatments Covered by Insurance?
Varicose veins are dangerous, which is why varicose veins treatments are deemed medically necessary and covered by insurance. However, all varicose vein treatments aren’t covered.
Radiofrequency ablation and endovenous laser ablation are covered by insurance, but not venaseal and ambulatory phlebectomy. VenaSeal isn’t covered because it’s a relatively new procedure and ambulatory phlebectomy isn’t covered because it’s a cosmetic procedure.
Best Varicose Veins Specialist Doctor Near Me
VIP Medical Group is a collective of some of the best varicose vein specialists and vein clinics in the country. We have some of the world’s best board-certified vein doctors who can treat your varicose veins with the latest minimally invasive non-surgical procedures. For more information, please schedule an appointment with the best varicose vein doctor in your locality.