Spider veins

CoolGlide and EVLA for Varicose Veins treatment

August 16, 2012 by

The Private Clinic is a specialist vein clinic for the treatment of varicose veins, thread veins, spider veins and facial veins. The Private Clinic have carried out over 7,000 procedures in treating Veins and in particular we are specialists in the minimally invasive treatment of veins. We focus on the underlying cause of your veins and you will only see a Consultant Vascular surgeon for Varicose Veins.

Veins Treatment Clinics to target :

Varicose veins are the blue or purplish enlarged veins you typically see bulging out of a person’s leg, most often on the backs of the calves or on the inside of the legs. If varicose veins are severe, don’t ignore treatment, as they can rupture or form ulcers on the skin, which require immediate attention.
Spider Veins(also known as Thread Veins) are similar to varicose veins but they’re smaller. They are often red or blue and are closer to the surface of the skin than varicose veins. They usually appear on the thighs and ankles and can pose a health risk.
Facial Veins generally appear on the nose, chin or cheek area and often occur in Rosacea.

Our Varicose Vein clinics in Bristol’s Whiteladies road in Clifton, in Manchester Saint John’s street off Deansgate road and in Glasgow’s Park Circus off Woodlands road are all ideally located for the treatment of Varicose veins, thread/spider veins and facial veins . We are able to offer non-surgical varicose vein removal treatments to 99% of patients that come to see us in Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow and the best part is that these treatments are walk in walk out treatments. No need for lengthy hospital stays. This includes the varicose vein treatment EVLA (Endovenous Laser Ablation) or Endovenous laser treatment, Sclerotherapy (Foam & Liquid), VenaSeal and Phlebotomy. We also treat smaller Spider or Thread Veins and offer advanced Sclerotherapy and Cutera CoolGlide thread veins removal treatments.

For more information on our EVLA varicose vein minimally invasive treatment and our expert Consultant Vascular surgeons click here.

To see before and after photos for varicose veins click here.

We also have other specialist varicose vein clinics located in Leeds, Birmingham, Harley street, Bournemouth, Bexhill, Chelmsford in Essex and Northampton.

Book your consultation today and you will be on your way to vein free legs.

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Varicose Veins – The Facts

October 13, 2012 by

Female First

Around 3 in 10 adults will, at some point in their life, develop varicose veins.Bulging veins, visible above the surface of the legs and thighs, varicose veins are not only an ugly nuisance but they can also be the cause of a lifetime of discomfort and embarrassment.

But why, when so many of us suffer with the condition, are we still unsure about the causes and health implications? Here Mr Kyriakides, consultant vascular surgeon at The Private Clinic of Harley Street and Barts Health NHS Trust provides us with ten useful facts about varicose veins and dispels some of the most common misconceptions along the way.

10 things you didn’t know about varicose veins…

Under the skin: Varicose veins are often seen as a condition of concern for cosmetic reasons, an unglamorous body hang up that we do our best to disguise. This may be true, but varicose veins can also cause aching, pain, itching, a heavy feeling in the legs and can have greater health implications than most of us are aware of. It is very common for patients to seek treatment for cosmetic reasons and later go on to unearth deeper, underlying vein problems. With this in mind, it is always wise for veins sufferers to undergo a thorough examination, particularly if they are battling with any of the side effects above.

The curse of age: It is a common misconception that varicose veins only affect people in their old age. In fact, this is a condition which can affect people of all ages, even down to those in their mid and late teens.

Battle of the sexes: Contrary to popular belief, both women and men can suffer with varicose veins.

Stand up, sit down: Sitting for long periods does not cause varicose veins, nor does crossing the legs regularly. Similarly varicose veins are not the result of prolonged standing and existing veins will not worsen if you opt to stand for lengthy periods.

Keeping hydrated: Despite what many of us have been led to believe, lack of hydration does not cause or aggravate varicose veins

Exercise is good: Exercise does not cause or aggravate varicose veins. In fact, exercise improves circulation in the legs, causing the blood to flow smoothly and reducing the likelihood of blood pooling in the veins. Exercise also reduces blood pressure, putting less pressure on the valves in the veins and reducing the chance of them becoming damaged.

It’s all relative: Genetics are the biggest contributing factor to the development of varicose veins. If your parents or grandparents suffered from varicose veins, there is a far greater chance that you will also.

Added pressure: Obesity and weight gain can increase your chances of developing varicose veins. Excessive weight gain puts extra pressure on the veins, causing them to lose their elasticity and eventually to widen. This separates the valves so when they close to prevent a backflow of blood, they no longer meet. This results in the blood flowing backwards and causes pooling in the veins.

Nine months later: The chance of developing varicose veins increases with pregnancy. Contrary to popular belief the weight of the baby has no or very little impact in development of varicose veins. It is more likely that the hormonal changes during pregnancy loosen the valves in the veins which allow them to swell up and bulge. In addition pelvic varicose veins particularly in relation to the ovaries can develop exacerbate the varicose veins in the legs.

Over the counter: Herbal remedies or varicose vein supplements will have no impact on the condition. Varicose veins cannot be cured by over the counter products. One of the most effective treatments currently available is Endovenous Laser Ablation (or EVLA), which is available at The Private Clinic, and involves inserting a fine laser fibre into the vein and delivering laser energy to seal the vein, preventing blood from flowing through it.

*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.

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Thread Veins Treatment Tested

January 1, 1970 by

Zest Magazine by Cosmopolitan

Sclerotherapy Thread Vein Treatment

If you suffer from unsightly thread veins, you probably hate them. But you may also be in two minds about getting them treated. I certainly was.

Will it hurt? Will it work? Is it worth it?

After having two children, I hated the web of thread, or spider, veins that had appeared on both my legs around the knees and lower thighs in the wake of my pregnancies.

I run regularly so am lucky to have quite firm, toned legs, but the flush of red and purplish fine veins they display was enough to make me think twice about wearing shorts or skimpy summer skirts. And when a colleague asked me how I’d got a bruise – in fact a patch of clumped-up thread veins – I decided it was time to take action.

I had always promised myself that I would not get my veins treated before I had finished having children, or before I was fit and within my target weight range. A big tick to both. I was ready.

There are a number of options if you’re a thread vein sufferer. You can put up with them, of course, try and disguise them with fake tan or make up, depending on where your veins lie, or opt for surgical intervention.

I’d finished having children and wanted my legs back. I was ready to get rid of those hideous Eyesores. Time to seek expert advice.

I booked a consultation with top vascular surgeon Mr Constantinos Kyriakides at The Private Clinic in London’s Harley Street. A veteran of Embarrassing Bodies and other TV medical shows, Mr K, as they call him, is a world expert in his field, specialising in minimally invasive treatments. He is also extremely charming. Shame I had to expose my ghastly old lady legs to him, but if anyone could get them sorted out, he was the man.

I was asked to rate the severity of my thread vein problem from 1-5. Difficult, but I opted for a 3. ‘Was I right?’ I asked Mr K.

‘The rating is not so much about the clinical severity, but gives me an indication of how serious the thread veins are for you, psychologically as much as anything,’ he explained.

My consultation began with an ultrasound scan to establish whether there were any underlying varicose problems, which could have a bearing on the treatment. I was given the all-clear, followed by a full rundown of my options.

There are essentially two ways of getting rid of thread veins. Location and severity have a bearing on which you are advised to choose.

Option 1: laser therapy. A handheld laser is targeted on the relevant areas, causing the blood within them to coagulate; the blood is then diverted to veins deeper below the surface of the skin and the visual marks disappear. It can cause mild pain, but is generally used on facial veins and rosacea.

Option 2: sclerotherapy, a series of injections to kill off the thread veins. Mr K advised this for my spider veins, saying he thought it would be the most effective therapy. I was happy to go with his recommendation, and booked in for my first session a week later.

Within 20 minutes of that first treatment, I was walking away from The Private Clinic, legs wrapped in bandages and compression stockings to help prevent staining around the treatment area. Wow, I had no idea it would be so quick!

So what happened? During sclerotherapy, a series of tiny injections are made into the offending veins, the syringe containing a solution that causes them to collapse and fade. The blood that caused the thread veins to be visible is gradually absorbed into your body and the thread veins disappear. Dots of blood appear on your legs where the injections are made, but Mr K wiped them all away quickly, and the treatment was not unpleasant. The injections do start to sting – rather like mild nettle stings – after a while, but the experience was extremely bearable.

Mr K used metre after metre of gauze bandage to bind my legs from thigh to foot. ‘I like to wrap very thoroughly,’ he explained. ‘It reduces the risk of staining.’

Permanent brown stains are a danger if the blood is not absorbed properly. I had to keep the bandages and compression stockings on 24 hours a day for the next week to be on the safe side. It was an inconvenience I was prepared to put up with.

As a result, though, it is definitely a treatment to plan for the colder months – those bandages would have felt hot during the summer, and would have looked odd too.

When that first set of bandages came off, I was delighted. I could already see certain veins disappearing and others were fading. A last, my legs were starting to look the same age that I feel!

Three treatments later (six weeks between each appointment) with less binding each time, Mr K decreed me finished. I couldn’t be happier. My legs now no longer look older than me, I can happily go bare-legged without feeling self-conscious, and there is no scarring or staining.

Will the veins come back? Over time, fresh thread veins may well develop, as my mother suffers and they are generally genetic, but they are likely to recur less severely and over a long timescale.

Hopefully, though, not before I really am an old lady, so by then my legs will match my age. Would I undergo another treatment with My K if they return? Yes, definitely.

Visit The Private Clinic, Harley Street, to find out more about thread vein treatments with Mr Constantinos Kyriakides.

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The Star Wars Laser that Zapped my Ugly Varicose Veins

January 1, 1970 by

Mail on Sunday

An astonishing 30 per cent of adults have unsightly legs due to varicose veins. But now a revolutionary new procedure using a ‘Star Wars’ laser called EVLT (Endovenous Laser Treatment) could cure the suffering within just five weeks.

Sarah Woods noticed she had varicose veins when she was just 18. A few appeared at the same time on both legs and were slightly raised but not ‘knobbly’, and not bad enough for her to want to stop wearing skirts.

However, nine years ago, when Sarah was 25 and pregnant with her first child, Robbie, her legs felt sore and looked bruised.

After the birth, Sarah – a dental nurse from Sevenoaks, Kent – noticed that the veins were more prominent and she became self-conscious about them.

‘I began to hate my legs and they became progressively worse, all knobbly and unsightly. I stopped wearing skirts. I didn’t want to look at them myself, let alone have anyone else see them.’

Then, last October, Sarah read an article about EVLT. This laser could, apparently, remove the veins with less discomfort than older procedures and boasted a 97 per cent success rate.

She saw Dr Constantinos Kyriakides, consultant vascular surgeon at The Private Clinic and Barts and The London NHS Trust, who scanned her legs with an ultrasound machine and said the veins were ‘very bad in both legs but worse in the right than the left’.

He felt confident, however, that he could remove the veins and within two weeks, Sarah was having treatment.

‘I was so nervous,’ she says. ‘I had been warned that the procedure would be uncomfortable.’

Dr Kyriakides had explained that the ultrasound also highlights the surrounding blood flow, local anaesthetic is then injected along the length of the offending vein and a very thin catheter is inserted into it, through which the laser energy is sent.

The laser seals off the varicose vein from the other surrounding healthy veins, thus cutting its blood supply. With the feeding vein responsible for the varicose vein eliminated, the varicose vein will disappear, and without the pressure filling the ballooned-out vein, any pain should lessen.

‘When Dr Kyriakides marked up my leg with a felt-tip pen, I didn’t want to look,’ says Sarah. ‘But then curiosity got the better of me and I watched as some local anaesthetic was injected into my legs.

‘Then, he used the laser – which looked like a Star Wars fibre-optic wand – passing it through my skin into the vein from the calf to the top of the thigh, firing it up to seal the vein.

‘He then injected more local anaesthetic over the smaller knobbly veins and made tiny punctures with a small needle, from which he pulled them out with small forceps. I had lots of little puncture marks.

‘Then I was strapped up tightly with surgical stockings to keep the legs compressed to minimise bruising and was told to walk for 20 minutes before leaving the clinic, having been there for around two hours.

‘I wasn’t too sore at first but after three days the strapping came off and I just had the stockings on which made my legs feel very tender and my toes tingled.

‘But I was so relieved to see only some bruising and lots of little plasters where the small punctures had been, and I could see that those horrible gnarled, knobbly veins had gone. It took five weeks for all the bruising and marks to disappear.’

But what are varicose veins? ‘They are large, distended superficial veins, which are not properly returning blood from the lower leg to the heart,’ says Dr Kyriakides.

‘Normally, veins have valves that open to allow the flow of blood to the heart and close to prevent backflow or reflux of blood to the foot.

‘When these valves fail to function properly and become “leaky”, blood overfills and distends the veins, which can be seen bulging under the skin.

‘They can affect most age groups with up to 50 per cent of sufferers aged 50 and over. They are more common in women and can be triggered by pregnancy but most commonly – as in Sarah’s case – they are hereditary.

‘They can get inflamed, causing a condition referred to as superficial thrombophlebitis and, rarely, they can bleed. Chronic venous insufficiency is a term used when varicose veins become severe, and if left untreated can cause skin ulceration that can be difficult to manage.’

Dr Kyriakides adds that those with varicose veins have a slightly increased risk of deepvein thrombosis, but that it is still safe to take the contraceptive Pill and that being on your feet a lot, crossing your legs or playing sport cannot cause them.

Sarah can now wear skirts, shorts and swimsuits to show off her vein-free legs. ‘I’m absolutely delighted,’ she says.

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Veins on Hands

January 1, 1970 by

Mail Online

Don’t be vein: Anti-aging laser technique will help Madonna and Angelina smooth out the skin on their hands

She may still be able to sing and dance like she’s in her 20s, but in recent years the unsightly, bulging veins in Madonna’s hands and forearms bare her true age.

Now the 52-year-old queen of pop will soon be able to turn back the clock thanks to a new quick and easy, pain-free cosmetic procedure which can be performed in a lunch hour.

Doctors say the anti-aging laser technique – which heats and erases unsightly veins in minutes – could heap thousands of middle-aged women get back to smooth, vein-free hands of their youth.

The treatment, which costs between £2,000 and £4,000 for both hands, works by destoying the affected blood vessels and causing them to simply dissolve away.

Constantinos Kyriakides, a consultant vascular surgeon, was the first doctor to perform theEvdovenous Laser Ablation procedure, which is also used to treat varicose veins in legs, on hands last year.

He said: ‘These very prominent veins are more of a problem for women, such as Madonna and Angelina Jolie, who are slim and toned because there is not much fat to cover the veins in their arms.

‘Unlike varicose veins on the legs, these kind of protruding veins don’t have any health implications for the patient, but because they are on the hands and lower arms they cannot be easily hidden or disguised and patients are often very self-conscious about them.

‘The treatment smooths out the veins by erasing them from view. It is quick and pain free – patients can literally walk-in their lunch hour to have it done.’

Bulging veins in the hands and arms become more prominent as the body ages. They are particularly associated with people who exercise a lot, are very fit and toned and have little fat under their skin.

Alongside Madonna, actress Angelina Jolie and IT Girl Tara Palmer-Tompkinson have also been pictured in the past with unsightly blood vessels protruding from their skinny arms.

Doctors begin the one-off procedure by first applying a local anaesthetic cream to the area affected.

A small ‘pin hole’ puncture is made into the vein and a tiny catheter – no longer than one millimetre in diameter – is inserted along the length into which more anaesthetic and the laser is placed. The laser is activated and slowly pulled out of the vein. The heat from the tip of the laser seals the vein closed, diverting the blood supply to other, deep, less prominent vessels below the skins surface.

After a few days and weeks the treated vein is reabsorbed into the body and disappears completely.

Dr Kyriakides, who has seen women aged between 40 and 70 at The Private Clinic of Harley Street for treatment, added: “The procedure is much quicker and less painful than older techniques, which involved physically pulling the vein out of the hand to remove it.

‘By making just a small puncture wound in the hand long sections of unsightly veins can be removed under local anaesthetic. The treatment takes around an hour per hand to perform. It is a walk-in walk-out treatment and patients can resume normal activity almost immediately.’

Married mother-of-two Denise Gray, 52, paid £2,500 for the procedure on both hands last August after hearing about it from a friend.

Working as an air hostess, she said her hands were always on show, but as she got older she became more and more self-conscious.

‘I am a naturally thin person and consider myself quite fit and active – I got the gym, run and cycle quite a bit’, she said.

‘But I just felt that my hands had started to look older than the rest of me, they were quite blue and veiny, and I was very self-conscious about them.’

‘I always used to try and hide my hands by sitting on them, but working in my profession, serving people drinks and meals, my hands wre always on show.’

Mrs Gray, of Wokingham, Berkshire, said that the veins disappeared within a few weeks and the treatment has made an ‘amazing’ difference.

‘It was so quick and painless, both hands took just over an hour to do in total,’ she added.

‘All my friends have commented on how good my hands now look, I’m so pleased I had it done.’

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Cosmetic Surgery and Skin Clinic Buckinghamshire

June 27, 2018 by Rebecca Giffen Leave a Comment

Set in the heart of the Chiltern Hills is The Private Clinic of Buckinghamshire. With expert transport links from London and Oxford it is an ideal south-east location close to towns and villages such as Marlow, Amersham, Stoke Poges, Aylesbury, Gerrards Cross and High Wycombe. Our Bucks clinic is great for anyone considering cosmetic surgery or aesthetic treatments such as dermal fillers and wrinkle relaxing injections.

Our clinic in Stokenchurch has a lot to offer patients with an expert team of plastic surgeons, aesthetic doctors and nurses and specialist skin practitioners. We also have a wide range of cosmeceutical products to purchase to make your skin care regime to clearer, brighter and more rejuvenated skin effortless.

Expert breast surgeon Mr Adrian Richards MBBS, MSc, FRCS (Plast.) GMC Number: 3286812 has a weekly private cosmetic surgery clinic in Stokenchurch consulting for procedures such as breast augmentations, breast uplifts, breast reductions, breast implant removal and/or replacement, breast auto augmentation and tummy tuck surgery. Mr Richards has been voted Home Counties Leading Plastic Surgeon by The Daily Mail, Leading Breast Surgeon UK by The Independent on Sunday. He is a much respected figure in the breast surgery industry having carried out thousands of breast procedures since he decided to specialise in plastic surgery in 1999.

Take a look at some of Mr Adrian Richards before and after photos here or to book a consultation click here.

Mr Prashant Govilkar MBBS MS MCh FRCS FRCS (Plast) GMC Number: 4258041 is another surgeon who consults from our Buckinghamshire clinic. Mr Govilkar specialises in body contouring surgery after weight loss which includes tummy tucks, arm lifts and thigh lifts. A consultation with Mr Govilkar will be held with compassion and dignity and he takes great care to ensure you have realistic expectations from surgery offering his advice for the best treatment plan that will suit you.

To find out more about Mr Prashant Govilkar or book a consultation click here.

Mr Maisam Fazel MA(Cantab) MB BChir MSEd FRCS GMC Number: 4767420 also consults from our Buckinghamshire clinic. Mr Fazel is a accomplished Consultant Onco Plastic Surgeon with a unique background in breast surgery giving patients the option of using b-lite implants which are a lighter alternative to the conventional breast implant.

To find out more about Mr Maisam Fazel or to book a consultation click here.

We have a specialist skin clinic at The Private Clinic in Bucks. We treat a wide range of skin concerns within our medical aesthetics clinic, if you are after cheek fillers, dermal lip fillers, the non surgical facelift or non surgical nose reshaping and nose to mouth lines we have the answer. Our experienced Doctors and nurses have been treating locals for decades. See some helpful links here

Popular treatments at The Private Clinic, Buckinghamshire include;

Dermal Filler

Dermal Filler treatments are ideal for anyone who is looking to restore volume into areas of the face that may have been lost due to ageing or weight loss. Dermal Filler can be used in many ways such as for enhancing the size of lips, defining the cheeks, and filling out the dark circles under the eyes, filling nasolabial lines and reshaping the chin or nose.

Wrinkle Relaxing Injections

For those that unhappy with fine lines and wrinkles on their face, wrinkle relaxing injection treatments are a great way to reduce the appearance without the need for any surgical procedures. Wrinkle relaxing injections can help soften the appearance of frown lines, crow’s feet, neck lines and top lip lines.

Wrinkle relaxing injections are also a great treatment to help those suffering with excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis). The botulinum toxin solution is injected into the underarm to reduce the amount of sweat that is produced.

Thread Lift

We offer two different types of thread lift treatments in Buckinghamshire; PDO Thread Lifts and Silhouette Soft. Thread lift treatments are a great way to lift and rejuvenate the skin. Downtime after a thread lift procedure is low compared to the surgical alternative with only minor bruising or swelling to the area for a couple of days afterwards.

Profhilo

Profhilo is a relatively new anti-ageing treatment that is growing increasingly popular and was awarded winner of the Best Injectable Product in Europe, 2017 at The Aesthetic Awards. The treatment uses hyaluronic acid to remodel the skins structure, nourish the dermal cells and treats skin laxity restoring the firmness of your skin. Profhilo is commonly performed on the face, neck and hands and results in healthier, softer and smoother skin with minimal downtime.

Mel Recchia RGN and Ruth Atkins RGN are our injectable nurses at our Buckinghamshire clinic all of which have a passion for finding the right treatment plan for their patients ensuring that they achieve realistic results and leave feeling happy and satisfied following their treatment.

To book an injectable consultation at our Buckinghamshire clinic click here.

If you feel a surgical option could be of interest click here for eyelift, blepharoplasty or eye bag removal or click here for one stitch facelift (as seen in Harpers Bazaar and Tatler as the treatment to watch ).

Why choose The Private Clinic?

We have the most experienced and well-respected surgeons, doctors, nurses and practitioners in the industry
Our state of the clinic facilities
Excellent reputation for patient safety and satisfaction
24-hour patient helpline to ensure you are always in the best of hands.
Comprehensive Patient Guides and information about all treatments.
As many post-operative care and follow up appointments with your surgeons, doctors, nurses and practitioners as required.
Consultations with our highly experienced patient advisors, nurses, doctors and practitioners
See our extensive videos of past patients
Read our extensive Procedure FAQs
We have a large gallery of before and after photographs
Many like to read out previous patient stories

Our experience and medical expertise makes your journey a reassuring one. To book a consultation or find out more about the procedures we offer at our Buckinghamshire Clinic call 0333 9202471 or click here.

Spider veins

CoolGlide and EVLA for Varicose Veins treatment

Veins Treatment Clinics to target :