Have you had varicose veins done?

[Houseplantmad]

I’ve got some unsightly thick veins on my lower leg (see photo) and some on my inner thigh. Given they’re so thick are they treatable and what’s involved please?

I had surgery a few years ago, a combination of laser and catheter based RF treatments. I’m very happy with the results, I’m not in the U.K. and went privately, it cost about 5-6000€ I think

Had them done twice on the nhs but it was 20 years ago and they won't do it again.
So they made an incision on the inside of my thigh and on the bottom of my knee and basically pulled out the vein.
I had to take a few days of work and wear a surgical stocking.
It didn't hurt after and I was absolutely made up with the results - but they do come back unfortunately!

@whattheduece That’s interesting. How long before they reappeared please?

I’ve got private cover which I probably won’t be able to afford next year so want to get them done before it expires!

I highly recommend the Whiteley Clinic (London or Guildford) - if you have insurance it should cover the treatment. Professor Whiteley is excellent and I've had no recurrence of the veins. Have a look at their website (just search for The Whiteley Clinic) which explains the treatment. Honestly, you won't regret it.

I had mine done twice in recent years and now they’re back as bad as ever (if not slightly worse). I’m so disappointed, I had the most up to date treatment. I have private health insurance so that paid for treatment.

Yes
I had it at veincentre.
Initially I thought good value , brilliant… fast, not disruptive.
I had great legs for about two months until another bigger, worse vein became varicose. One that is quite disfiguring and can only be treated with traditional stripping on the nhs, because it’s too twisty for laser ablation.
And although I had varicosity free legs for a while, after the laser ablation I suffered horrible water retention in legs and ankles, so really I just swapped one ugly thing for another. At least with varicose veins you can stick tights on . Cankles are almost worse!

My mum has had it done twice on the NHS and her legs are a state. Discoloured and “bruised” looking and the veins have come back each time

About two years each time.
They do always come back, I don't think mine are worse than before, but they are not bad enough for the nhs to now do them and I'm 54 so I'm like "meh" anyway
If you have the insurance I'd definitely go for it!
Xxxx

Just reading the posts about veins coming back. I had this experience after 2 surgeries (both NHS when I had my legs 'stripped' - don't think they do this anymore private) - after a couple of years the veins were back. Apart from some thread veins mine have not come back after being treated at the Whiteley Clinic.

I had mine stripped twice. It took about 2 years for them to come back but I also was pregnant with twins in that time which didn't help! I think they might be coming back again...

I had mine stripped (one leg below the knee). They were big veins - surgeon was impressed. Very black lower leg for a week, had to wear a stocking, but they have not come back . This was about 6/7 years ago.

It was private- cost about £2500 all in.

I had EVLT on my varicose veins about 10 years ago. They haven't come back. I the procedure at the Benenden Hospital in Kent.

Thanks all - you’ve shared so much I had no idea about. Lots to think about. Thank you again.

My dad had his done and he suffered nerve damage and can no longer drive long distances

I am following this thread with interest. I have an appt at Vein Centre in a couple of weeks. My left leg has been affected for about 10-15 years but its only in the last 6 months it has caused me any problems - swelling and discomfort - particularly bad after i go on long hikes at the weekend. I’ve been forced to pause that ( hopefully temporarily) whilst i seek treatment. I’m really hoping it will help as i would be gutted to have to give up going out with my walking group.
The Irony is that i thought i was helping it because exercise is supposedly good for veins.

I would proceed with enormous caution my grandmother who was not old at all even by standards back in the day had hers done and died three days later from deep vein thrombosis and this was back in the day when they kept her in for three days post surgery unfortunately the evening that she got home was her last. Now the operation would be day surgery and should be in an out in eight hours.

I had mine stripped twice on one leg by NHS, but they came back. I later developed veins on other leg. After losing some weight I decided to see if there was anything more that could be done to help. I had Endovenous Laser Ablation. Legs were scanned and faulty veins were treated, these weren’t just the obvious ones you can see but underlying veins. A needle is inserted into vein and then lasered. It was quite uncomfortable but a local anaesthetic is applied beforehand.

i had to wear compression stockings for a week after and was also prescribed a blood thinner. I had a follow up appointment six weeks later and smaller veins were treated with foam scelotherapy and thread veins with a liquid scelotherapy.

Due to the number of veins I had, and the results I wanted to achieve, I had about 3 further follow appointments for scelotherapy. I think I am at the stage now where I am 95% happy with my legs. They are 1000 times better than when I began the treatment.

I think you need to be aware that varicose vein treatment doesn’t give immediate results. I started mine last summer but have been able to wear dresses etc this summer. I’ve had no swelling to ankles, but did occasionally get this before the treatment. I am so pleased I have had it done, I would say it’s improved the quality of my life. I always wore trousers before I had this done. I even go swimming now!

This is really interesting as I have one that is significantly more obvious than a year ago. My mum has loads ( think they're hereditary?) but refused to ever have surgery as she's a nurse and said the operation is awful.
Do varicose veins carry any risk if left untreated?

My Dad got bad leg ulcers from untreated varicose veins. I’m getting mine stripped this autumn, had them for years but they have recently got worse - painful and unsightly. But nervous so following this thread with interest.

I had mine done at Beneden about 4 years ago. Absolutely fantastic. Excellent result, no problems and they haven't returned.

I had a relative who had their varicose veins lasered I think. (Some sort of heat treatment which collapses them?). They were painful for quite a long time afterwards and she had a dreadful bruise which took ages to heal - probably took 6+ months to get back to a "clear" leg after the operation. But they did go and they haven't come back 5+ years later.

I had EVLT 12 years ago on one leg with good results and they haven’t came back, however I have been very careful to avoid standing for long periods and I watch my weight, as advised by the surgeon.

It was private in Glasgow and I think it was about £3500 but can sometimes be done under local anaesthetic which would have been a bit cheaper.

Know a few folk who have had the traditional stripping method done and I do believe it is quite painful with mixed results so I didn’t even consider that method.

Agree that it takes a few months to settle down so not a quick fix, the bruising was horrendous for a few months and it was originally quite sore requiring painkillers for several weeks.

Overall though I was still very happy with the end result - my leg looked similar to yours beforehand and made me quite self conscious - if I was you I would go for it

I had mine lasered at Vein Centre. It wasn't painful. It's been two years. I've been very pleased.

I should say that my veins were specifically pregnancy related

I have had three lots of laser treatment with BMI (Dr Eddie Challoner, Radiance) and am pleased with the results. He's very honest and straightforward. Aesthetically, my legs are never going to be things of beauty, but at least they're not all lumpy. More importantly, it's meant I can continue to teach - if I hadn't had these surgeries, I'd have to give up.

I believe Dr Challoner and his colleague pioneered one of the modern laser methods. They've done 1000s of procedures.