A vein does not have to be removed to stop it working. It can be sealed shut from the inside, either with heat delivered through a fine laser fibre or chemically with a foamed medicine, and the body then absorbs it over the following months.
These treatments need no incision and, in most cases, no general anaesthetic. You walk out and return to ordinary work within days rather than weeks. That convenience is real, but it is not the reason they are chosen: for most straightforward saphenous trunks they simply work as well as surgery with less bruising.
Thread veins are a separate matter. They sit in the skin itself, are treated with very fine injections, and are cosmetic rather than medical. They are grouped here because the technique is the same, not because the problem is.
All three close a vein without removing it. Which is appropriate depends on the size of the vein, how twisted it is, and whether the aim is symptoms or appearance.
Before the laser is used, dilute local anaesthetic is injected all around the vein. It numbs the area, compresses the vein onto the fibre, and forms a cushion that protects the skin and nerves from the heat.
A firm tender line along a treated vein is expected, not a complication. It is the vein scarring down, and it softens and disappears over three to six months.
A scan a few weeks after laser confirms the vein has stayed closed and excludes clot extending into the deep system. A segment that has reopened can usually be treated with foam.
Treating a trunk does not clear thread veins, and treating thread veins over an untreated refluxing trunk gives short lived results. The scan decides the order.
Recovery from these treatments is usually straightforward. A few things are worth reporting rather than waiting out.
The questions that come up whenever an alternative to surgery is offered.
Ask your question →For most patients it means less bruising and a faster return to work, and it avoids a groin cut and a general anaesthetic. It is not better for every vein. A very large, very tortuous or very superficial trunk is often safer and more reliably stripped.
The local anaesthetic injections sting briefly. The laser itself is not felt. Afterwards the treated vein becomes a tender cord for around two to three weeks, which is the most uncomfortable part and is managed with simple painkillers and compression.
Often two or three, sometimes more where there are many veins. You are given an expected number after the scan, and it is reviewed as treatment progresses.
In most people, over six to twelve months. Occasionally they persist. Sun exposure makes staining worse and longer lasting, so keep the area covered or use sunscreen.
After foam or microsclerotherapy, usually yes. After laser, most people take two to four days before desk work. You will be in compression and should walk regularly throughout.
