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Sclerotherapy and Microsclerotherapy (Thread Veins)

Anyone can suffer with thread (red, spider or broken) veins, and they can appear on any part of the body. Although harmless, they can cause distress as the sufferer often feels self-conscious, particularly if the veins are on an exposed part of the body, such as the legs, which people can see if they wear summer clothes.

Thread veins are usually very near the surface of the skin; red, blue, or purple in colour, and less than 1 to 2mm in diameter. They are not regarded as a serious medical condition but they can occasionally ache.

By contrast varicose veins are usually deeper beneath the skin, skin coloured or bluish - green and more than 2mm in diameter. They are more serious than thread veins and can be painful. Treatment of varicose veins is generally considered to be a medical matter and not one for a cosmetic surgeon and so patients are often referred by their GP to a vascular specialist.

Sclerotherapy treatment was originally developed in the 1920s for the treatment of varicose veins and was then refined for the treatment for thread veins; this is what we now call microsclerotherapy. It is mostly used for leg and other thread veins on the body but is rarely used on the face, where laser or IPL treatments are often favoured, owing to the small possibility of scarring that can occur with mircosclerotherapy.

Microsclerotherapy is the technique of injecting thread veins with a special substance known as a sclerosant, a solution called sodium tetradecyl sulphate that causes swelling in the vein’s wall. If the vein is small enough, the swelling will destroy the vein over several weeks, making it much less noticeable or even invisible. There is usually minimal or no discomfort during microsclerotherapy injections due to the size of the needle used and the superficial injection technique. The whole treatment should usually take no longer than half an hour or so, depending on how many veins require treatment, and you can normally drive immediately and go about your usual daily activities following it. In practice, most people require between 2 and 6 treatments at 4 to 8 week intervals, depending on the size of the veins, and 75% disappearance of the veins is expected.

Private costs for microsclerotherapy can range from around £150 to £250 for a one hour treatment session.

Total treatment costs depend upon the extent of the veins and the number of treatment sessions required for improvement.

© The Consulting Room

Reproduced with the permission of the Consulting Room™

For more information, visit www.consultingroom.com


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