Raise your feet while sitting. Laser and pulsed light therapy are used to heat the blood vessel and shrink it. Laser therapy is most effective for treating small varicose veins and spider veins. Laser therapy can be used as an additional treatment after sclerotherapy, endovenous procedures, or larger vein surgery.
Lasers are also used for endovenous ablation of larger varicose veins. Laser treatments may require several sessions, spaced at intervals of six weeks, to properly treat the vein. Your doctor may recommend that you wear special compression socks or stockings. These put enough pressure on the legs so that blood can flow more easily to the heart.
If blood clots form in superficial veins (veins located just below the surface of the skin), they could cause conditions such as thrombophlebitis or deep vein thrombosis. Some research suggests that jobs that require standing for long periods of time may increase the risk of developing varicose veins. We hate to tell you, but if your mother had varicose veins, you're more likely to develop them, too. After sclerotherapy, varicose veins should start to disappear after a few weeks, as the stronger veins take on the role of the damaged vein, which is no longer full of blood.
The National Institute for Excellence in Health and Care (NICE) only recommends wearing compression stockings as a long-term treatment for varicose veins if all other treatments aren't right for you. Most people who have varicose veins won't have complications, but if they do, it will usually be several years after varicose veins first appear. The impact of body weight on the development of varicose veins appears to be more significant in women. However, it is not known if stockings help prevent varicose veins from worsening or if they prevent new varicose veins from appearing.
For many people, varicose veins and spider veins, a mild and common variation of varicose veins, are simply a cosmetic problem. If you've had any trauma to your legs or veins, this can weaken them and increase your chances of developing varicose veins. Your family doctor can diagnose varicose veins based on these symptoms, although more tests may be done. During the procedure, the surgeon makes cuts in the skin, cuts the varicose vein and removes it through the incisions.
There is little evidence to suggest that varicose veins can be prevented from worsening or completely prevent the development of new ones. Any vein in the body can become varicose, but it most commonly develops in the legs and feet, especially the calves. In these circumstances, you'll need to wear compression stockings even if you've had surgery to treat some varicose veins. Complications are more likely when varicose veins are the result of a problem or disease in the deep veins or in the perforating veins that connect the deep and superficial veins, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or chronic venous insufficiency.
