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New Year, New You! Minimally Invasive Vein Procedures Make You Look Good Again
When it comes to attractive, healthy legs, few conditions can wreak havoc as much as unsightly spider veins or varicose veins. If their appearance doesn’t put a dent in your self-confidence, the achy throbbing sensation that may accompany them can definitely make living with them unpleasant.
If you count yourself among the more than 30 million Americans with venous disease, you’re all too aware that problems with your veins can put you on the sidelines of your own life. It doesn’t have to be that way though.
In this blog, board-certified vascular medicine specialist Parthiv Amin, MD, FACC, RPVI, at Cardio Metabolic Institute explains how you can start the new year with a new you thanks to minimally invasive or noninvasive vein treatments.
Why vein health matters
While attractive legs are definitely enviable, getting rid of varicose veins is about so much more than aesthetics. Veins play an important role in the overall health of your body due to one simple fact – every cell, tissue, and organ in your body needs nutrient-rich oxygenated blood to perform its particular function optimally.
Healthy, full functioning veins help make that happen with their crucial role in your body’s circulation system. When your veins are in top shape, they deliver low-oxygen blood back to the heart against gravity to be refreshed. Your heart then pumps fresh oxygenated blood out to the body again.
Varicose and spider veins
Varicose veins and spider veins occur due to problems with the one-way valves inside. If the valves are weak or become damaged, they can’t shut properly, which in turn causes blood to pool and leak backward.
This scenario increases congestion and pressure inside the vein, resulting in the characteristic unsightly appearance of varicose or spider veins as well as achy and throbbing symptoms that can accompany varicose veins.
More treatment options than ever
The good news is that vein specialists today can offer patients a variety of minimally invasive and noninvasive vein treatments that effectively address vein problems without having to turn to surgical options like vein stripping.
Modern treatment options safely shut down problematic veins and restore optimal blood flow by rerouting blood to healthy veins — without the risk of possible surgical complications.
Chemical treatment
One common minimally invasive treatment option, called sclerotherapy, addresses varicose veins or spider veins using a chemical solution. Your provider uses a fine needle to inject a chemical irritant directly into the affected vein.
Over the course of several weeks after treatment, the solution shrinks and collapses the damaged blood vessel. The body ultimately reabsorbs the treated vein tissue.
Laser and light therapy
A noninvasive treatment option for small varicose veins and spider veins taps into laser energy. Laser and light therapy, including intense pulsed light (IPL), are primarily topical treatments that reduce the appearance of spider veins and small varicose veins.
This treatment option may be ideal for patients who are allergic to the chemical solution used in sclerotherapy or patients who prefer a needle-less treatment.
Your provider targets the treatment area with a highly focused beam of light using a handheld device. The laser energy works below the skin to permanently damage the affected vein by creating scar tissue, which in turn closes the vein off. Depending on the issue being addressed, this treatment may require more than one session.
Ablation options
Ablation requires a small incision to begin the procedure. Two common ablation treatments accomplish the same goal but tap into two different technologies. Endovenous laser ablation uses laser energy, and radiofrequency ablation uses radio waves to produce heat to close off the affected vein.
Your provider administers a local anesthetic or a sedative to keep you comfortable throughout the procedure and then makes a small incision to insert a thin tube to access the vein being treated. Using a small tool with either laser or radio energy capability, your provider then heats up and seals off the vein.
When the procedure is complete, your provider removes the tool and the tube. Typically the incision requires only a bandage. Remarkably, ablation treatments take about one hour.
If enjoying 2024 with your best legs ever is at the top of your New Year’s resolution list, contact Cardio Metabolic Institute at our office in Somerset, New Jersey, to find out which vein procedure is right for you. Set up your consultation by clicking the “Book online” button or by calling today.
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