Varicose vein removal with injections - sclerotherapy
- Description of the treatment
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The Derm-Al Centre offers sclerotherapy. This method yields very good aesthetic results with minimum injury. It involves injecting a medication that makes varicose veins collapse and stick together, i.e. obliterate.
Doppler echocardiography is recommended before the treatment to evaluate the efficiency of the venous system.
How does sclerotherapy work
The treatment is painless and performed in local anaesthesia. It involves injecting obliterating medication directly into malformed veins. During a single treatment, the medication is inserted a number of times at certain intervals. The number of injections and the concentration of the medication are determined by the physician, depending on the size of varicose veins. The purpose of the medication is to make the vein walls grow together, causing the vein to disappear. Circulation is then taken over by deeper, healthy venous vessels. Finally, elastic bandage is applied, to be worn for some time. Elastic bandage is necessary to make the vein walls shrink, accelerate healing, increase effectiveness of the treatment and prevent complications. Immediately after the treatment, the patients should walk for at least 30 minutes. After removing the bandage, there may be small bruises and the vein may have a greenish and bluish colour, and it may be tough and a little painful, which is a normal effect of sclerotherapy. The healing time is: in the case of spider veins - appr. 4 to 6 weeks, in the case of large-section varicose veins - appr. 4 to 6 months. Due to the risk of developing dark spots, the procedure is not performed in periods of intense sunshine.Subsequent injections may be performed on the same limb after 7-14 days, or later, even a year later. It is not necessary to have a series of treatments.
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Elżbieta Bednarczyk,
medical doctor