What are varicose veins?
varicose veins are abnormally enlarged and tortuous veins bulging beneath the skin.They can be flesh colored, dark purple or blue. Varicose veins are commonly found on the backs of the calves or on the inside of the leg.
They’re rare in people under the age of 20, but become more common with age. Around one in five people will develop varicose veins and women are more often affected than men.
Risk factors include genetic, age (as you get older your veins start to lose their elasticity), being overweight, standing for long periods of time. Hormonal medications and pregnancy exacerbate the condition.
How do they develop?
The role of veins is to carry blood back from the extremities towards the heart. To do this, the blood must flow upwards, against gravity. This process is aided by muscle contractions and by one-way valves. If the valves in the veins become weak or break, they won’t close properly and the blood will flow back to the legs instead of travelling up towards the heart.
Over a period of time the veins will become dilated and tortuous.
These damaged veins serve no useful purpose and cannot be mended. The best cure is to remove them. The removal of varicose veins does not affect blood flow because other veins and especially the deep veins take over this job. It is thus perfectly safe and indeed beneficial to remove varicose veins.
EVLT™ - Endovenous Laser Treatment of Varicose Veins - is a new, minimally invasive method of treating varicose veins.
- A 45 minutes procedure under local anaesthetic
- 95% success rate
- No surgical incisions
- You can resume normal activities almost straight away
- Minimal discomfort
Varicose veins do not tend to get better without treatment, and usually get worse with time. The earlier you receive specialist treatment the better the clinical and cosmetic results.
At The Private Clinic, all varicose veins treatments are performed by senior vascular surgeons.
Our surgeons are highly experienced in all of the available treatment options and during your medical assessment will discuss which is most suitable for your veins and most likely to give you the best result. Procedures are available in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds. Procedures are also available at the weekend.
You can book your consultation online or call 0800 599 9911
