The Spider Vein and Varicose Vein Center, Houston, TX
The Spider Vein and Varicose Vein Center, Houston, TX, has a strong reputation for providing highly effective, comprehensive, and convenient vein treatments. They have 5-star ratings and reviews from all patients on Google, Facebook, RealSelf, and all other online platforms, indicating flawless results. This is pretty rare considering most vein centers have a modest rate of recurrence, i.e., the vein problems often return after the treatment. But the spider vein and varicose vein center in Houston largely skirts that possibility because of a comprehensive vein care approach.
Below, we provide a step-by-step overview of the vein center’s vein treatment process.
Step 1: Initial Consultation
Your spider vein and varicose vein treatments start with an initial consultation with the vein doctor. The vein doctor understands your symptoms and goals and determines the likelihood of having chronic venous insufficiency, the root cause of most vein problems. Chronic venous insufficiency is a circulatory disorder wherein the malfunctioning of your vein valves makes blood flow backward and accumulate in your leg veins. To that end, the vein doctor examines your leg veins, discusses your symptoms, and reviews your medical history to gauge the likelihood of vein disease.
Step 2: Vascular Imaging
Chronic venous insufficiency causes blood to flow backward and accumulate in the leg veins. The continued accumulation of blood in the leg veins leads to restless legs, frequent leg cramps, throbbing leg veins, leg swelling, spider veins, varicose veins, leg ulcers, skin changes, and other problems. While these are strong signs of vein disease, they’re not conclusive. The vein doctor administers a vascular imaging test called duplex ultrasound to diagnose the underlying chronic venous insufficiency conclusively. An ultrasound device visualizes the direction of blood flow in leg veins, revealing the presence or absence of vein disease.
Step 3: Treatment Plan
Instead of recommending a cookie-cutter vein treatment plan — the norm in most vein centers — the vein doctor curates a personalized vein treatment plan just for you. The vein doctor recommends the ideal minimally invasive vein treatments according to your medical history, symptoms, diagnostic results, cosmetic goals, and insurance coverage options. The best vein treatments for underlying vein disease include radiofrequency ablation, laser ablation, venaseal, and clarivein, and the best vein treatments for spider veins and varicose veins include sclerotherapy, foam sclerotherapy, and ambulatory phlebectomy. The vein doctor recommends the ideal minimally invasive treatments for you.
Step 4: Primary Treatment
The primary vein treatment is only necessary for patients with underlying chronic venous insufficiency. At this stage, various methods are used to collapse the diseased saphenous vein, i.e., the diseased vein responsible for your vein problems. Once the diseased vein is removed, the accumulated blood reroutes into healthier leg veins. However, the specific treatments and techniques used may be different. The vein doctor may use thermal energy (radiofrequency ablation), laser energy (laser ablation), medical-grade adhesives (venaseal), or a combination of mechanical damage and sclerosant medication (clarivein).
The following is a brief overview of the minimally invasive varicose vein treatments for the underlying chronic venous insufficiency:
- Endovenous radiofrequency ablation uses thermal energy channeled via a catheter to collapse the diseased saphenous vein.
- Endovenous laser ablation uses laser energy channeled via a catheter to collapse the diseased saphenous vein.
- VenaSeal involves injecting a medical-grade adhesive into the diseased saphenous vein to seal its vein walls shut.
- ClariVein involves using a specialized catheter to damage the diseased vein’s walls while injecting a sclerosant solution.
Step 5: Cosmetic Treatment
The cosmetic vein treatment is meant for patients without underlying vein disease, either after the primary vein treatment or if you don’t have underlying vein disease at all. The vein doctor recommends the ideal vein treatment based on the location and size of the leg veins. Sclerotherapy is the ideal vein treatment for spider veins, foam sclerotherapy is suitable for varicose veins and reticular veins, and ambulatory phlebectomy is suitable for large varicose veins on the skin’s surface. After the cosmetic vein treatment, you can expect your legs to look gorgeous again.
The following is a brief overview of the minimally invasive vein treatments for spider veins and varicose veins:
- Sclerotherapy involves injecting a sclerosant medicine into the spider veins to make them shrink, harden, and get absorbed by the body.
- Foam sclerotherapy involves injecting a foamy version of the sclerosant medicine into the varicose veins to make them seal shut and get absorbed by the body.
- Ambulatory phlebectomy involves the physical extraction of the varicose veins through small incisions on the skin’s surface.
Step 6: Recovery Guidelines
Minimally invasive spider vein and varicose vein treatments conclude within an hour with no downtime. The procedures are simple and safe, involving nothing more invasive than injections or a small incision. As such, you can resume your daily activities and work immediately after the vein treatment. Your vein doctor will discuss your post-treatment recovery guidelines and activity limitations, such as wearing compression stockings, avoiding heavy lifting for a few days, and walking frequently. After that, you can return to your normal activities without any downtime, major side effects, or complications.
The Spider Vein and Varicose Vein Center, Houston, TX, is an incredibly accessible vein center. It’s located at 2024 Richmond Ave #300, Uptown Houston, a short drive from The Galleria shopping mall, River Oaks, and various other prominent areas. If you live in or around Houston, TX, and have the signs or symptoms or underlying chronic venous insufficiency, such as spider veins and varicose veins, we encourage you to schedule an appointment at the vein center today. After scheduling your appointment, you may also request free insurance verification in advance.