Report of a varicose vein treatment

1. Twisting veins on the legs: not only ugly, but also unhealthy. Doing nothing is not really an option, because they will only get worse. Fortunately, the procedure is much less severe than before.

2. Twisting veins on the legs: not only ugly, but also unhealthy. Doing nothing is really not an option, because they will only get worse. Fortunately, the procedure is much less severe than before.

1. During my second pregnancy I saw something appear on my right calf. A starting varicose vein? I immediately dropped that idea in horror. A varicose vein, that was nothing for a fresh thirties. So I pretended that the vein wasn't there. But after the birth of my third child, a few years later, I could no longer deny it. A thick, blue varicose vein now curled over my calf. I had no pain or trouble, but I didn't like it. The doctor gave me a referral to a special clinic.

2. During my second pregnancy I saw something appear on my right calf. A starting varicose vein? I immediately dropped that idea in horror. A varicose vein, that was nothing for a fresh thirties. So I pretended that the vein was not there. But after the birth of my third child, a few years later, I could no longer deny it. A thick, blue varicose vein now curled over my calf. I had no pain or trouble, but I didn't like it. The doctor gave me a referral to a special clinic.

Heavy feeling

1. Varicose veins are in the top ten of the GP consultation; One in four adults gets them. They can arise when blood from the legs no longer flows back properly to the heart. The blood in the veins has to defy gravity on the 'way back' to the heart and lungs. In addition, blood pressure in the veins - unlike blood pressure in the arteries - is low. That is why there are valves at various places in our veins that prevent the blood from flowing back. If those valves in the legs break, the blood still flows back, the vein collapses and varicose veins develop. They are thickened and tortuous and therefore clearly visible on the leg. Pregnant women, people with a standing profession (such as hairdressers and shopkeepers) and the elderly are more likely to develop varicose veins. But whether or not you get them can also be a hereditary issue. Lots of exercise, especially walking and cycling, helps to prevent varicose veins. Varicose veins are not just a cosmetic problem. In the long run it causes pain and can cause a restless, tired and 'heavy' feeling in the legs. Other complaints are cramps, itching, discolouration of the skin, fluid retention in the legs and an increased risk of thrombosis (a blood clot in a blood vessel). Because the blood circulation in varicose veins is no longer optimal, the skin is also less well supplied with blood. Ultimately, the skin can even die, causing a painful wound that heals poorly: an open leg, the worst complication with varicose veins. Once you have varicose veins, you will never really get rid of it. A varicose vein will not go away on its own and will only get worse. And the longer you wait, the more the vein twists and the wider it gets. This makes treatment more difficult and the risk of complications greater. By the way: if a varicose vein is treated, a new varicose vein may appear in another place.

2. Varicose veins are in the top ten of the GP consultation; One in four adults gets them. They can develop when the blood from the legs no longer flows back properly to the heart. The blood in the veins has to defy gravity on the 'way back' to the heart and lungs. In addition, blood pressure in the veins - in contrast to blood pressure in the arteries - is low. That is why there are valves at various places in our veins that prevent the blood from flowing back. If those valves in the legs break, the blood still flows back, the vein collapses and varicose veins develop. They are thickened and tortuous and therefore clearly visible on the leg. Pregnant women, people with a standing profession (such as hairdressers and shopkeepers) and the elderly are more likely to develop varicose veins. But whether or not you get them can also be a hereditary issue. Lots of exercise, especially walking and cycling, helps to prevent varicose veins. Varicose veins are not just a cosmetic problem. In the long run it causes pain and can cause a restless, tired and 'heavy' feeling in the legs. Other complaints are cramps, itching, discolouration of the skin, fluid retention in the legs and an increased risk of thrombosis (a blood clot in a blood vessel). Because the blood circulation is no longer optimal in varicose veins, the skin is also less well supplied with blood. Eventually, the skin can even die, resulting in a painful wound that heals poorly: an open leg, the worst complication with varicose veins. Once you have varicose veins, you will never really get rid of it. A varicose vein will not go away on its own and will only get worse. And the longer you wait, the more the vein twists and the wider it gets. This makes treatment more difficult and the risk of complications greater. By the way: if a varicose vein is treated, a new varicose vein may appear in another place.

Under the knife

1. One year after the referral by the GP I can finally go for a consultation with a specialist. While I am standing on a stool, the doctor examines my legs with the duplex scan, a kind of ultrasound machine for the blood vessels. My blood circulation is shown on the screen. It is clearly visible: the vein in my calf is no longer functioning properly. In fact, the blood circulation is disrupted from my thigh. My complaints are now only of a cosmetic nature, but intervention is still necessary, according to my doctor, otherwise I will sooner or later also get physical complaints. The duplex scan is the most important development in recent years. Previously, vascular specialists used the doppler device, which is also used to hear the baby's heartbeat in pregnant women. But with that, the vascular specialists could only estimate by ear what was wrong with a varicose vein. Now they can see very precisely how big the varicose vein is and how the vein runs: a kind of map of the circulatory system. My doctor recommends the laser treatment for me: an operation in which the blood vessel is closed with a laser beam. It is an effective method that can be performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthetic. That sounds reassuring. But at the hour of You, I'm still pretty nervous. I lie down on a treatment table, my leg is covered with sterile cloths, an operating lamp is lit: it all looks suspiciously like an operation. It starts with puncturing the vein and that must be done without anesthesia. It doesn't work very well. After three attempts, the doctor gives up. She makes a small cut under anesthesia in order to reach the vein. Then follow the anesthetic injections for the entire leg. According to some you can compare these injections with dental anesthetics. But during this procedure, fluid is also injected; this is necessary to cool the tissues around the vein, otherwise that tissue would suffer from the laser.

2. One year after the referral by my GP I can finally go for a consultation with a specialist. While I am standing on a stool, the doctor examines my legs with the duplex scan, a kind of ultrasound machine for the blood vessels. My blood circulation is shown on the screen. It is clearly visible: the vein in my calf is no longer functioning properly. In fact, the circulation is disrupted from my thigh. My complaints are now only of a cosmetic nature, but intervention is still necessary, according to my doctor, otherwise I will sooner or later also get physical complaints. The duplex scan is the most important development in recent years. Previously, vascular specialists used the doppler device, which is also used to hear the baby's heartbeat in pregnant women. But with that, the vascular specialists could only estimate by ear what was wrong with a varicose vein. Now they can see very precisely how big the varicose vein is and how the vein runs: a kind of map of the blood circulation. My doctor recommends the laser treatment for me: an operation in which the blood vessel is closed with a laser beam. It is an effective method that can be performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthetic. That sounds reassuring. But at the hour of You, I'm still pretty nervous. I lie down on a treatment table, my leg is covered with sterile cloths, an operating lamp is lit: it all looks suspiciously like an operation. It starts with puncturing the vein and that must be done without anesthesia. It doesn't work very well. After three attempts, the doctor gives up. She makes a small cut under anesthesia in order to reach the vein. Then follow the anesthetic injections for the entire leg. According to some you can compare these injections with dental anesthetics. But during this procedure, fluid is also injected; this is necessary to cool the tissues around the vein, otherwise that tissue would suffer from the laser.

Bandages

1. Am I a wimp? I think the injections are pretty mean and there are still a lot of them. Afterwards I have little trouble with the surgery itself. At most, I am bothered by my vivid imagination: I see a kind of laser show in my leg. Immediately after the procedure I can carefully - and a little shaky - get off the table myself. In another room my battered leg gets some more injections to spray away the small superficial veins. I can't see a syringe anymore! Then my leg is bandaged. I have to leave those bandages on for a week. The pain after the operation is not too bad, a painkiller is really not necessary. The question remains: is the treatment of varicose veins always necessary? No, because some varicose veins are only cosmetically disturbing, and then treatment is not really necessary. Doctors do recommend that legs with varicose veins be examined regularly using a duplex scan. If the varicose veins get worse, you can intervene in good time and prevent serious problems.

Steam away varicose veins

1. A relatively new treatment is the 'steaming away' of varicose veins. As with the laser treatment, the vein is heated inside. This closes the blood vessel and resolves the problem. During the steam treatment, steam is introduced into the vein via a flexible wire of 2 millimeters thick. The temperature of the steam is 120 ºC, which is less hot than when lasering. This probably makes the steam treatment less painful and less bruising. Another advantage: steaming is also suitable for very tortuous and thin varicose veins.