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Fifteen

The Menopause & Varicose Veins: What you need to know

September 23, 2020 by Fifteen Leave a Comment

For many women, varicose veins can prove to be a particularly troublesome issue during the menopause. This is because changes to a woman’s hormone levels during the menopause can increase the likelihood of varicose veins occurring. It is important to understand the delicate interplay between key hormones during this phase of a woman’s life to better understand the issue.

Oestrogen and progesterone are the two main hormones influence vein health.

How do oestrogen and progesterone affect vein health?

These hormones have a beneficial impact on the vein wall support and the function of the cardiovascular system. Blood vessel walls contain receptor sites for these hormones, which allow the hormones to efficiently force blood flow around the body via veins, arteries and capillaries. However, when the levels of these hormones drop due to the menopause, blood vessel walls can lose their strength and flexibility, resulting in blood pooling or collecting in the areas of weakness and causing varicose veins.

Healthy Veins vs Varicose Veins

How to minimise the risk of varicose veins in the Menopause?

Once a varicose vein has formed, it is unlikely to disappear on its own, unless you opt to have the veins treated. There are several steps that women can take to minimise the risk of developing varicose veins during the menopause. Choosing a healthy, balanced diet, and adopting several lifestyle changes can help to reduce the risk of the problem occurring.

The top 5 areas that can help reduce varicose veins during Menopause

  • Vitamin C Intake: Vitamin C, like oestrogen, acts as a vital aid in giving strength and flexibility to blood vessel walls. The vitamin works to maintain and replenish collagen levels, a key structural protein found in skin and artery walls. Eating plenty of green leafy vegetables along with citrus fruits and berries is a great way to boost these levels naturally.
  • Healthy Fats: Choosing to consume healthier fat sources is also vital when it comes to maintaining optimal cardiovascular health. Saturated fats and triglycerides increase the risk of artery walls clogging, so swap red meats, dairy products and processed food options for the healthier omega-3 fats found in oily fish, nuts, avocados and seeds.
  • Weight management: Being overweight puts the cardiovascular system under extra pressure, so by adopting a sustainable weight loss plan, you can reduce your risk of developing varicose veins during the menopause, while also benefitting your overall general health. Achieving a healthy BMI should be your number one goal in this respect.
  • Frequent exercise: If you sit or stand for long periods, the blood pooling effect can intensify, so make sure to take exercise breaks as often as you can to get your body moving.
  • Improving leg strength: The legs are where most varicose veins occur, so keep these parts of your body as fit as you can to avoid developing problems in these vulnerable areas. Cycling, walking, running or even a dance class is a great way to keep this part of the body toned and active. Or seek out physiotherapy if you have mobility problems. Experts can then advise you on a low-impact exercise program that works for your specific needs.

Treating Menopause-related varicose veins

When taken together, these holistic methods can boost your chances of avoiding varicose veins when the menopause hits. But if you do develop them, or if you currently experience the condition, then a variety of varicose vein treatments are available to remove them. The Private Clinic offers several effective clinical treatments that generate impressive long-lasting results.

Endovenous Laser Ablation (EVLA)

The Private Clinic’s Endovenous Laser Ablation (EVLA) treatment is one of the most popular varicose vein removal treatments.

How does EVLA work?

The treatment involves inserting a small laser optical fibre into the problematic vein. Laser light is then emitted which works to heat up and collapse the unhealthy vein. Dr Costas Kyriakides, a consultant vascular surgeon at The Private Clinic explains why this treatment is particularly popular:

“The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommended endothermal ablation as a first-line treatment for varicose veins, and it’s now considered the gold standard treatment. It’s around 98 percent effective, and minimally invasive, while the risk of bleeding and infection is rare. The 1-2mm incision does not need stitching and leaves only a tiny scar, meaning that patients can be back at work the next day.” – Dr Costas Kyriakides

varicose vein leg treatment Endovenous Laser Ablation (EVLA) before after photo

VenaSeal

Another popular treatment is VenaSeal. This is highly recommended for patients who suffer from a needle phobia as it only requires one injection per vein.

How does Venaseal work?

The treatment involves inserting a small catheter into the vein before the VenaSeal tool dispenses small amounts of medical-grade Sapheon Glue that works to close the vein. In this respect, the treatment acts as a sort of superglue to patch up the problem of blood vessels that have weakened. Mr Tahir Hussain, a consultant vascular surgeon at The Private Clinic carries out both EVLA and VenaSeal treatments and has had the VenaSeal treatment himself. He explains:

“This treatment has been around for some time now and is akin to putting superglue into the varicose veins to seal them off. The dead vein and hardened glue are then broken down and absorbed into the body. Published clinical studies have shown it to have an initial success rate of between 94 to 98 percent six months after treatment.”

“I’ve carried out this procedure in hundreds of patients, and I even had it done myself in my lunch break, after developing varicose vein symptoms at the age of 52. I had some clearly visible veins on my body, but after the quick treatment, they just shrank away and after a few months, the residual pain had completely gone.” – Mr Tahir Hussain

For patients whose veins are not suitable for EVLA or VenaSeal, other options include sclerotherapy and phlebectomy and these treatments are often treated in combination with those mentioned above. Talking to one of The Private Clinic’s experienced vascular surgeons is the best option to find a suitable treatment for menopause-related varicose veins. They will be able to go through the procedures in detail and create a personalised treatment plan that suits your own needs.

Menopause Varicose Vein Treatments at The Private Clinic

We possess over 35 years of experience providing the best and latest vein removal treatments and have treated over 7,000 patients concerned about their veins. We work with highly qualified consultant vascular surgeons who have extensive experience in treating varicose veins for women going through the menopause. View our varicose vein before and after photo results, or download our varicose vein treatment brochure. You can contact us to book a free varicose vein phone or video consultation today by calling us on 0333 920 2471 or using our varicose vein online contact form.

In-person consultations are also available at our vein clinics located across the UK:

  • London Harley Street Veins Clinic
  • Bexhill Veins Clinic
  • Birmingham Veins Clinic
  • Bournemouth Veins Clinic
  • Bristol Veins Clinic
  • Leeds Vein Clinic
  • Manchester Veins Clinic
  • Northampton Veins Clinic

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The women injecting their own fat to look younger

October 27, 2014 by Fifteen Leave a Comment

Daily Mail

Looking down at the exquisite diamond twinkling on her finger, Rosetta Citton’s heart sank. The 59-year-old jewellery designer had slipped on the eternity ring to show one of her customers, but felt distraught at the stark contrast between the glittering stone and her ageing hands.

“That was the moment I knew I had to do something” says the married mother-of-three from London. “My hands looked gaunt and gnarled. My tendons were raised and the skin was as shrivelled as tissue paper. I had to find a way to change them – for my business as well as myself.”

But rather than opt for hand creams or fillers, Rosetta chose to have a cutting-edge procedure that sounds as if it’s straight from the pages of a sci-fi novel: a fat graft, where fat was sucked from her thighs and injected into her hands to plump them up.

Billed as a natural and long-lasting alternative to implants and fillers, these fat grafts – also used to plump up sagging boobs, or a bottom that has lost its perkiness – have become big business since being pioneered in the U.S. In the past year, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons has reported a 15 per cent increase in the number of treatments.

The two-in-one procedure, which costs from £1,500 to £15,000, involves removing anything from 20ml to 200ml (a third of a pint) of fat from most commonly the inner thigh or stomach, slimming the area slightly in the process. It’s then injected into somewhere lacking in volume, such as the breasts, buttocks, eye area or hands.

The treatment requires only local anaesthetic and patients are discharged the same day. While a certain amount of the newly-added fat gets reabsorbed by the body, most stays in place, ageing and depleting naturally alongside other body cells. Scarring is kept to a minimum as the skin need only be pierced with a small syringe.

As fat is softer and more fluid than synthetic fillers, the results from fat grafting look and feel natural, and there’s no risk of rejection. It stays in its new ‘home’ unless you lose weight quickly, in which case it behaves exactly like normal fat and gets broken down and reabsorbed. As a result, effects can last ten years or more compared to fillers which typically need replacing after 12 months.

Rosetta opted for the extraordinary procedure after visiting Harley Street’s The Private Clinic, where four years earlier she’d had fillers injected into her face. She arrived expecting the same treatment, but aesthetic surgeon Dr. Dennis Wolf suggested a £1,850 fat graft might give better results.

Dr Wolf has already treated three times as many people this year as last for fat transfers to their hands. Despite the fact she was conscious throughout, Rosetta says she wasn’t squeamish: ‘It didn’t hurt save for a slight burning sensation as the anaesthetic first took hold.’

First, local anaesthetic was injected into the upper back part of her thighs and hands. Fat is usually taken from somewhere that the patient has excess fat to lose; on thinner people (Rosetta is a size 8) that’s usually the thigh.

A small incision was then made in her skin and 20ml of fat – about four teaspoons – was sucked out and deposited into a machine which seperates healthy fat cells from ones damaged during extraction. The purified fat cells were then injected into the back of Rosetta’s hands. She was in and out within 90 minutes and back at work in four days. Eighteen months later, she’s still delighted with the results.

“My hands still look ten years younger. They have volume, seem healthier and smoother and the wrinkles are reduced. I don’t see it as an act of vanity as it’s natural; you’re just taking fat from one place you don’t need it and moving it to somewhere you do.”

Dr Wolf estimates that 40 percent of fat injected won’t survive past the first month. “The fat cells can die if they aren’t near enough to a blood supply to sustain them, so we always over-fill to compensate”, he says. This can cause initial swelling which usually settles down within days or weeks depending on how much fat has been transferred.

 

*All images, videos and testimonials are based on the personal experiences of our patients and represent individual body shapes and results. Results may vary from person to person. All testimonials are provided voluntarily by our patients and clients and all photos and videos have been consented to and have not been altered in any way.

Filed Under: Fat Transfer

Women rush to banish their ‘Madonna Mitts’ with the perfect anti-ageing procedure for HANDS

August 19, 2013 by Fifteen Leave a Comment

Mail Online

Forget muffin tops and crows feet, women are now seeking cosmetic surgery to banish signs of ageing on their hands.

Cosmetic surgery clinics have reported an 18 per cent increase in enquiries in the past month of people having anti-ageing procedures on their hands.

The new cosmetic surgery trend, which sees women having dermal fillers and laser resurfacing to reduce the signs of ageing, has been dubbed the banishing of ‘Madonna Mitts’ after popstar Madonna, 55, who has ‘anti-aged’ almost every part of her body but often resorts to fingerless gloves to cover her hands.

As the years pass, skin on the hands thins, causing veins to become more prominent and liver spots to appear.

While make-up can disguise tell-tale signs of ageing on the face, it’s more difficult with hands – which is why it’s often said that hands are the best indicator of age.

Speaking about the latest cosmetic trend, a spokesman for the Transform clinic, which has seen an 18 per cent increase in the number of anti-ageing hand procedures perforemed, said: ‘Our hands are exposed to the sun more frequently than other parts of the body and a failure to apply sun cream to hands as regularly as we do the face makes them susceptible to sunspots and accelerated aging.

‘With the hot weather this summer we have experienced a marked increase in inquiries from women complaining of sunspots on their hands, along with the skin becoming thin and crepey.

‘Hand rejuvenation is becoming increasingly popular, with dermal fillers volumising and smoothing the skin, encouraging the production of collagen to provide a youthful look.

‘Laser resurfacing of the hands is also on the rise thanks to its ability to improve sun-damaged skin and reduce the appearance of sunspots.’

The Private Clinic on Harley Street also offer a treatment to rejuvenate the hands and have seen a surge in enquiries.

Their procedure takes fat from one part of the patient’s body and injects it into the hands. It is done while the patient is awake and is designed to give long term rejuvenation benefits to the hands.

Dr Dennis Wolf, fat transfer specialist at The Private Clinic, performing fat transfer to the hands on 57 year old Rosetta Citton.

Hands Before - The Private Clinic

Hands After - The Private Clinic

*All images, videos and testimonials are based on the personal experiences of our patients and represent individual body shapes and results. Results may vary from person to person. All testimonials are provided voluntarily by our patients and clients and all photos and videos have been consented to and have not been altered in any way.

Sandy Benson, 54, also had similar surgery at Transform because felt she was being constantly aged by her hands, which over the years have lost their youthful look so opted for the surgery.

She said: ‘Madonna is a great example of a woman who is trying to take care of herself in her 50s just like me.

‘I can completely sympathise that her hands are the bit that gives it all away.

‘My hands were thin and veiny and just looked much older than the rest of me.

‘I’d abused them over the years and never taken care of them and as I got older they slowly got worse.

‘Your hands are difficult part of your body, there’s not a lot you can do with them to help and they’re always exposed.

‘I tried lots of creams, but they never worked. You can slather it on all you like but it doesn’t put back the plumpness or elasticity.

‘Your hands tell the story, everywhere else was fine as I could work on that by going to the gym and taking care of myself but my hands had driven me mad for quite a while.

‘I do sympathise with Madonna, it’s terrible when you work so hard and this one thing keeps letting you down.

‘For me it got to the point where I would wear long sleeves and be pulling the cuffs down over my wrists because I don’t like them.

‘I would often fold my wrists in as well so people couldn’t see my hands.’

After doing nearly a year’s worth of research Sandy opted for X fillers and decided to go to Transform and banish her ageing hands.

The procedure- where filler is injected into the skin- takes around 30 minutes to be completed and claims to give instant results.

And now Sandy believe her hands look even better than Madonna’s.

She said: ‘Now I’m much more confident, I don’t hide my hands away as much as they are better.

‘I’d even say better than Madonna’s now.’

Dr Dennis Wolf, Joint Medical Director and fat transfer specialist at The Private Clinic of Harley Street, said: ‘It is common for women, as they grow older, to lose weight in their hands, which means that veins and wrinkles can become more evident. Prolonged exposure to the sun will also speed up the ageing process.

‘And while treatments like laser resurfacing to target the signs of ageing, or traditional fillers to make the hands appear fuller and healthier, can offer effective results, these can really only ever offer a temporary solution.

Private Clinic Hand Fat Operation

‘A more long terms solution is fat transfer – a technique which is fast becoming one of the most popular for hand rejuvenation purposes. The procedure uses advanced technology to produce a pure and effective fat graft, which means that fat can safely be taken from one area of the patient’s body, such as their thighs or stomach, and injected into the hands.

‘The fact that the procedure is minimally invasive is also an important factor. Many patients have careers which do not allow for them to be away from work for long periods of time. Fat transfer is a walk-in, walk-out procedure and one which is performed under local anaesthetic, so patients can undergo treatment without too much disruption to their lives.

‘Over time I expect to see procedures such as this continue to grow in popularity, as women decide to invest further in different aspects of their appearance, later into life.’

*All images, videos and testimonials are based on the personal experiences of our patients and represent individual body shapes and results. Results may vary from person to person. All testimonials are provided voluntarily by our patients and clients and all photos and videos have been consented to and have not been altered in any way.

Filed Under: Fat Transfer Tagged With: Fat Transfer, Ageing hands

Liz Jones – Fat Transfer to the hands

April 22, 2013 by Fifteen Leave a Comment

Mail Online

Well, it’s official. As we age, it’s our hands, not our faces, that most concern us — bulging purple veins, thinning, crepey skin, and brown speckles.

Liz Jones Before

Liz Jones After
*All images, videos and testimonials are based on the personal experiences of our patients and represent individual body shapes and results. Results may vary from person to person. All testimonials are provided voluntarily by our patients and clients and all photos and videos have been consented to and have not been altered in any way.

Research by beauty firm No7 showed one in eight of us is more worried about our hands betraying our age than our faces.

I wish I could say this marketing gumpf wasn’t true, but I’m afraid it is. While we have long since learned to use moisturiser and sunscreen on our faces and decolletage, most of us don’t bother with our hands.

But — and here’s the thing — I have always looked after my hands. I have never cooked (too many ugly scars from burns and nicks), washed up (I own a dishwasher), gardened or sunbathed. Even in my 20s I was protecting my hands with face cream.

I’ve massaged cuticle oil around each half moon every night and have never used polish on my nails, believing it will desiccate them and turn them yellow.

I’ve slept in Bliss softening socks and Bliss softening gloves, which make it very hard to turn the pages of a novel or keep a husband — but who needs  culture or a game of footsie when you can have baby soft paws?

Over the past decade, I have had my  brown age spots zapped with a laser at the private Lister Hospital opposite Battersea Park in South  London. A giant machine targets the speckles, resulting in a worrying smell of burning, followed by crusting, leaving a creamy dot instead. But, like damp in a basement, the brown smudges soon return.

And now, in my 50s, I’ve started to notice my face and my hands just don’t match. This, of course, is entirely my own doing.

I had a facelift and blepharoplasty (removal of eye-bags) in March 2011, followed by filler injected every eight months to keep it all tip top.

And so now, while my face is fairly plump and cheerful-looking (Botox ensures my mouth no longer droops like Dame Edna Everage’s sidekick, Madge), my hands belong to quite another person.

I worry, too, that I’ve inherited my mum’s arthritis, a disease that ravaged her joints and turned her hands into avian claws, the pain etched in her face.

Just the other day, I was washing my hands and I looked up to remove a hair from my face. I jumped, thinking I was being mugged by a little old lady.

A recent photo of me holding a puppy also made me dismayed: my hands were so bony it was as though I was not just dead, but had been dug up from a bog.

My hands resemble a song thrush: brown upper parts, a cream under-part and obvious dark spots. Something, I realise, has to be done if I am to avoid following Madonna, who goes out in public these days in bright purple fingerless gloves.

And so I go to meet Dr Dennis Wolf, a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the British College of Aesthetic Medicine, at his consulting room at The Private Clinic in Harley Street.

A dapper South African, Dr Wolf is one of the few British-based surgeons to be trained in Vaser high-definition fat extraction (a high-tech, non- invasive form of liposuction).

He has used fat transfer to augment breasts, buttocks and faces, the  British woman’s favourite places for plumping, which are fast being caught up by our wish to rejuvenate our hands.

I place mine on his desk, as though he is a soothsayer about to read my palm. ‘Hmm,’ he says, turning them gently. ‘The veins are pronounced, the skin is crepey and, yes, you do appear to have lost a lot of volume.’ But the good news is that he can save me.

He tells me he will harvest fat from elsewhere in my body, which will then be spun at high speed to purify it, so it can be injected into my hands via tiny incisions at the top of the wrists.

Why my own fat and not filler? I have had no problems with that injected in the tramlines from my nose to mouth.

‘Fat is the new filler. While this procedure is more invasive and costlier, it’s safer, as the body is less likely to reject it,’ he tells me.

‘And it lasts longer, not just the eight months you get with filler. The fat will remain plump as long as it would do in your thighs, so maybe even years.’

He says my hands will look puffy at first and might bruise and be a little painful. About 70 per cent of the fat injected will survive and settle to look natural and smooth (filler can go lumpy if not injected by an expert).

Dr Wolf then gets me to strip off and assesses the best place to harvest fat. I’m hoping he’ll say my knees or tummy, but he deems them not nearly chubby enough. Instead, he earmarks the fat at the top of each inner thigh.

But if I’m buoyed by the thought of slimmer legs, the feeling is fleeting. Only about 40ml will be taken from each leg, he says, most of which is fluid. After being spun, there will be about 4ml of fat for each hand — not quite enough to fill a teaspoon.

I’m told to wear support tights post-op and not to straddle anything (I think he means I shouldn’t ride my horse, but I blush, reminded of the first time I had collagen in my lips and was told not to kiss for a week. ‘Believe me,’ I said. ‘It’s really not that likely.’).

The procedure will be done under local anaesthetic and takes about three hours. I’m to turn up in baggy clothes and not to wear white — there might be ‘leakage from the harvest site’.

I feel a little queasy. After the procedure, I’m to take antibiotics and painkillers, and must be taken home by a responsible adult.

I realise there is no one I can call upon, bar my cleaner. I realise that as I get older, my problem will be one of isolation and loneliness, not the fact my hands betray my vintage.

I’m to abstain from alcohol while taking the antibiotics prescribed to avoid infection (actually, alcohol is bad full stop, as any damage to the liver will result in more tell-tale brown spots).

I must also leave off washing up, long baths and anything strenuous done with the hands (it’s a good job I’m not the Queen and don’t have to wave them all day) and I should keep them slightly elevated for a  couple of days. I’m to place a pillow under each when on a sofa or in bed.

I panic. Will I be able to type? ‘Yes,  you can type. But try to take it easy for two days.’

I’m beginning to feel worried, especially when he tells me the cost of the op is nearly £2,000. I’m deaf (there are some signs of ageing you can’t fix in an afternoon). At first I think he says £200, but when he corrects me I gasp with shock.

But I’m brave, I’m desperate and so I agree to turn up on a Friday evening at The Private Clinic’s Knightsbridge branch. Dr Wolf, now in surgical scrubs, draws with black marker pen on the backs of my hands as a guide of where to pipe the fat, like a very non-festive cupcake decorator.

In gown and paper knickers, I’m prone on the operating table. Painkiller is injected first into my thighs, then my wrists.

Liz Jones Surgery

Harvesting the fat is the worst part: a big tube is inserted via an incision; it feels as though a vacuum hose has been shoved beneath my skin.

I open my eyes to see a syringe fill with a yellow liquid, streaked with red. I start to feel very hot, and wonder not for the first time why I cannot just grow old gracefully.

The worst part over, the fat is spun, then injected into my hands and squished by the doctor into all the crevices. One hand done, the photographer takes a picture of how different my old hand looks. The effects are startling and instant.

After about an hour, I am allowed to sit up slowly. My hands look like those of a twentysomething’s: pale and smooth. Finally, I leave the clinic and head out into the bustling London night.

I hail a taxi home — all the time I’m aware of the lumps of bulky gauze on my thighs and wrists.
We pass bars and restaurants full of people laughing and drinking, and not for the first time I feel jealous of anyone who is not me: alone, having had more painful surgery to try to make myself better, as if anyone cared or noticed.

Two days later, I’m very happy with my new chubby hands and keep putting a finger to my face to check it matches.

They feel like a new purchase, a new Mulberry bag, which in a way they are, though without the crocodile effect.

After one restless night, they are no longer swollen or bruised, though my legs are so painful — the entry wounds seep blood and gunk — that I can barely walk.

I can’t help but wonder what on earth women will be asked to worry about next. I’ve been peering at my feet, which my husband told me were my best feature and one of the reasons he married me, and which suddenly seem to have purple veins around the ankles.

The nails seem a little thicker than they once were, requiring more coats of Tom Ford shocking pink polish. I consider calling Dr Wolf to ask about foot rejuvenation, but change my mind.

I might just consider a big comfy pair of cashmere socks first . . .

 

*All images, videos and testimonials are based on the personal experiences of our patients and represent individual body shapes and results. Results may vary from person to person. All testimonials are provided voluntarily by our patients and clients and all photos and videos have been consented to and have not been altered in any way.

Filed Under: Fat Transfer Tagged With: Liposuction, Fat Transfer, hands

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The Private Clinic is a multi award winning medical group with clinics located across the UK. We have over 35 years’ experience in offering the best in advanced minimally invasive non surgical treatments and expert led surgical procedures in our clinics and hospitals. In 2020 our clinics and hospitals have GMC Registered Surgeons and are regulated by the Care Quality Commission(CQC).

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