RADIO INTERVIEW: Dr. Ghassemi recently appeared on WMTR-AM's "Ask The Experts" program. To listen to this informative overview of new minimally invasive laser treatments to remove unsightly varicose veins, click here the play button below.
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Click to watch a Vascular Laser Therapy procedure to treat problem Varicose Veins
To see if laser vein therapy is right for you, call our office at 973-942-1141, send an email to veintreatment@hotmail.com and ask for more information, or submit a form from our Contact Us page.
Vein disease of the legs is one of the most common medical conditions. Approximately half of the population has some form of vein disease. Varicose veins affect up to 25% of all adults and about half of all people over 50. The most common cause of vein disease is heredity. Pregnancy, especially multiple pregnancies, is a contributing cause of vein disease. Other factors include age, obesity and jobs that require long periods of standing.
What causes vein disease? Veins are the blood vessels that return blood to the heart from the body. To overcome the force of gravity, inside the veins are one-way valves which open to allow blood flow to the heart, and close to prevent "reflux" of blood back to the body. When these valves fail to function, or if the vein is damaged so the valves do not completely close, blood can begin to build up in the vein and cause a variety of vein complications, such as varicose veins and spider veins.
Varicose veins Varicose veins are the large, "rope-like" veins that are often a quarter-inch in diameter. They can occur when veins do not properly return blood from the lower leg to the heart. When the valves inside the legs fail to work properly, blood leaks through and flows down the leg in the wrong direction, away from the heart. The blood overfills and distends the superficial veins under the skin, resulting in the bulging seen in varicose veins.
When varicose veins become severe, as in the photo shown here, the condition is referred to as chronic venous insufficiency. Symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency include aching pain, easy leg fatique and leg heaviness, all of which worsen as the day progresses.
Varicose veins generally continue to grow in size over time and can result in substantial pain and complications if not treated. Chronic venous insufficiency can cause ulcerations which can be very difficult to treat.
Spider veins
Spider veins are the small, thread-like colored veins that are most often seen on the surface of the skin. While many people seek treatment for spider veins for cosmetic reasons, spider veins also can result in substancial discomfort requiring therapy.
Treatments
Depending on the type and stage of vein disease, there are many different treatments. Here is a brief summary, which your physician can explain in more detail.
Compression Stockings
For minor pain from varicose veins, a compression stocking may be beneficial. The compression stocking will assist the leg in the pumping of blood back to the heart. While the vein disease symptoms may be relieved, compression stockings will not make the varicose veins go away.
Sclerotherapy
Sclerotherapy
is used commonly for spider veins and smaller varicose veins. It involves injecting a small volume of liquid into the diseased vein. The sclerosing liquid acts upon the lining of the vein to cause it to seal shut, eliminating the vein completely. Sclerotherapy is quickly performed in a physician's office and no anesthesia is required.
Because there are many veins in the leg, the blood that would have flowed through the closed vein simply flows through other healthy veins after the procedure. The loss of the diseased vein is not a problem for the circulatory system.
Surgical Stripping
Historically, the only treatment for large varicose veins has been to surgically remove or "strip" the vein from the body. Surgical stripping is done in an operating room under anesthesia and requires a considerable recovery period for the patient.
More recently, a modified version of stripping known as ambulatory phlebectomy has grown in use in this version of surgical stripping, multiple incisions are made to hook and remove the vein, one portion at a time. More incisions are made than in standard vein stripping, but the damage to the leg and post-surgery recovery time are minimized.
Laser Therapy to remove Varicose Veins
In the last few years, the use of lasers has become an accepted alternative to surgical stripping to treat varicose veins.
Vascular laser therapy can be performed in a physician's office in less than one hour and the patient is encouraged to walk immediately following the procedure. In vascular laster therapy, a thin laser fiber is inserted into the diseased vein, generally through a small puncture in the leg above where the visual symptoms apear. The physician then delivers laser energy through the fiber, which causes the vein to close as the fiber is gradually removed.
Because there are many veins in the leg, the blood that would have flowed through the closed vein simply flows through other healthy veins after the procedure. The loss of the diseased vein is not a problem for the circulatory system.
Is vascular laser therapy painful?
Although individual responses vary, most people report feeling little or no pain after vascular laser therapy. Often the only sensation that is felt is during the deliveryof anesthetic to the leg. After the procedure, you may feel some tenderness, tingling, itching or tightness in the treated leg, which should disappear within a month.
How successful is vascular laser therapy?
Clinical results have been published which document the results of vascular laser treatment. Like any medical treatment, laser therapy has certain risks, which your doctor will explain to you as they may apply to your individual circumstances.
body. To overcome the force of gravity, inside the veins are one-way valves which open to allow blood flow to the heart, and close to prevent "reflux" of blood back to the body. When these valves fail to function, or if the vein is damaged so the valves do not completely close, blood can begin to build up in the vein and cause a variety of vein complications, such as varicose veins and spider veins.
to seal shut, eliminating the vein completely. Sclerotherapy is quickly performed in a physician's office and no anesthesia is required.
Is vascular laser therapy painful? 