To diagnose varicose veins, your doctor will perform a standing physical exam to check for swelling. He or she may also ask you to describe any pain in your legs.

Varicose Veins Treatment

To diagnose varicose veins, your doctor will perform a standing physical exam to check for swelling. He or she may also ask you to describe any pain in your legs.

You may need an ultrasound test to see if the valves in the veins are working normally or if there are any blood clots.

Varicose Veins Treatment Methods

Treatment usually does not mean a hospital stay or a long, uncomfortable recovery. Varicose veins can usually be treated on an outpatient basis thanks to less invasive procedures.

1. Compression Stockings

It is often the first approach to try before moving on to other treatments. They constantly tighten your legs, helping the veins and leg muscles move blood more efficiently.

If you do not respond to self-care or compression stockings, or if your condition is more severe, your doctor may recommend one of the different varicose treatments.

2. Sclerotherapy

In this procedure, your doctor injects small to medium varicose veins with a solution or foam that injures and seals these veins. Varicose veins treated within a few weeks will fade. Sclerotherapy does not require anesthesia and can be done in your doctor’s office.

3. Foam Sclerotherapy of Great Vessels

Injection of a large vein with a foam solution is also a possible treatment to seal and close the vein.

4. Laser Treatment

Doctors are using new technology in laser treatments to close smaller varicose and spider veins. Laser therapy works by sending powerful bursts of light into the vein, causing the vein to slowly fade and disappear. No incisions or needles are used.

5. Catheter Assisted Procedures Using Radiofrequency or Laser Energy

The doctor inserts a thin catheter into the enlarged vein and heats the tip using radiofrequency or laser energy. When the catheter is pulled out, the heat causes the vein to collapse and close, destroying the vein.

5. High Ligation and Vein Stripping

It involves ligating a vein before it joins a deep vein and removing the vein through small incisions. This is an outpatient procedure for most people. Removing the vein does not prevent blood from circulating in your leg because the veins deeper in the leg take care of larger blood volumes.

5. Outpatient Phlebectomy

Your doctor removes smaller varicose veins through a series of small skin punctures. In this outpatient procedure, only the punctured parts of your leg are numbed. The scar is usually minimal.

6. Endoscopic Vascular Surgery