About half of all American adults have cardiovascular disease, including diseases that affect the veins, the vessels responsible for returning your blood to your heart. Fortunately, vein disease is treatable, but you need to be sure the treatment you receive is the right one for your vein health.
At South Florida Surgical Group, our doctors offer several different types of vein disease treatments, helping every patient get the most appropriate care for their needs. This post provides a quick overview of those options and how they work to restore normal, healthy circulation.
Vein disease typically happens when something interferes with normal blood flow in your veins. Most vein diseases happen when tiny valves inside your veins malfunction, allowing blood to back up and even reverse its flow. Sometimes, a clot will form in a vein, partially or completely blocking blood flow.
Varicose veins are one of the most common symptoms of venous disease, but they’re not the only symptom — and not all vein diseases cause varicose veins. Depending on the type of disease you have and how severe it is, you might have symptoms like:
Although vein problems can develop anywhere, many people develop vein disease in their legs and feet, areas that require the most effort for blood return to the heart.
Different vein problems require different approaches to get the best results. Our team offers several vein treatment options, including the following four.
Sclerotherapy uses injections of special chemical solutions administered directly to the diseased vein. The solutions irritate the tissue that lines the interior walls of the vein. Irritation causes the veins to “close up,” preventing blood flow in the future. Over time, the vein is absorbed by your body, and blood flow is diverted to neighboring veins.
Venous ablation is an effective method for treating smaller and larger diseased veins. In this technique, we apply a focused “stream” of energy (usually laser energy or radiofrequency energy) to the inside of the vein. The energy heats the vein tissue, causing it to collapse and seal off without harming surrounding tissue. As with sclerotherapy, your body absorbs the vein tissue over time, while blood is diverted to other veins nearby.
Microphlebectomy is a minimally invasive surgical approach to vein disease. In this technique, one or more tiny incisions or punctures are made into the diseased vein. The doctor inserts a special instrument to “grab” the diseased vein so it can be extracted and removed. The incisions or punctures are so small, they close without stitches.
This technique is used when you have a clot in your vein. We make a small incision or puncture and insert a thin, flexible tube called a catheter. The catheter delivers special clot-dissolving medicine, clearing the vein so blood flow is restored.
Today’s minimally invasive vein treatments mean you can get the vein care you need, no matter how busy your life may be. To learn more about the vein treatment options we offer, call our office in Miami, Florida, or book an appointment online today.
