Are you tired of having to hide the unnatural tortuous veins on your legs or are you constantly experiencing aching leg pains and heaviness? If your answer is yes to both, you could be suffering from varicose veins with an underlying venous insufficiency.
Varicose veins are large, dilated, and branching veins visible on the surface of your skin. Often people with varicose veins have no symptoms at all except the pain of having to constantly hide these unsightly veins. But in addition to being cosmetically unappealing, spider veins could also be a sign of a more serious condition called chronic venous insufficiency. In such cases, prompt treatment of the venous insufficiency is essential to prevent life-threatening complications such as a Deep Venous Thrombosis(DVT). DVTs are blood clots that can form in people with chronic venous insufficiency. These clots can then migrate to the lungs leading to the most dreaded potentially fatal complication of venous insufficiency – a pulmonary embolism.
How are varicose veins diagnosed?
While diagnosing a varicose vein is pretty straightforward based on the visibly dilated and tortuous branching nature of the veins, further investigations are needed to evaluate any venous insufficiency. To this end, the most important investigation is a Duplex Ultrasound.
A Duplex Ultrasound is a non-invasive diagnostic procedure that can easily confirm the presence of a venous insufficiency within 30 minutes. Although other investigations such as Magnetic Resonance Venogram and CT Venogram are also available, they are rarely necessary and are only done in a select group of patients.
What are the best treatment options for varicose veins?
If you look up spider veins or varicose veins, you may find yourself browsing through thousands of blogs on home remedies such as Apple Cider Vinegar, Essential oils, Witch Hazel and so on. While these blogs try their best to convince their readers that these home remedies are all you will need for treating your vein issues, please keep in mind that multiple scientific studies have found that these ancient treatment methods are not only ineffective, but can also have hazardous side effects such as hives, skin inflammation, rashes and in some unfortunate cases can even lead to a deadly anaphylactic shock. So, it is best to stray away from these blogs, and consult an expert vein doctor with years of experience in treating all vein disorders with scientifically proven and FDA approved treatments.
Multiple treatment options are available for varicose veins, but here we will briefly describe only the best vein treatments currently made available by the latest advances in vein disorder management. All of these treatments are available at our vein clinic located at Long Island North.
- VenaSeal: VenaSeal is a minimally invasive adhesive that safely treats varicose veins effectively and quickly. Unlike the other varicose vein treatments that require injections, VenaSeal only needs a single route of entry without the need for any local anesthetics. Within just a few seconds, the VenaSeal glue permanently seals up the walls of the diseased vein allowing the blood to re-route through the other healthy veins in the leg. This treatment has a 99% success rate, and enables the patient to resume their daily activities immediately after the procedure is completed on the same day.
- Varithena: Varithena is an injectable foam solution that can both minimize the appearance of varicose veins and treat the symptoms associated with varicose veins.This non-surgical procedure takes less than an hour without any discomfort during and after the procedure. Rarely, some patients can be allergic to Varithena, which is why it is crucial to consult an experienced vein doctor before jumping to any treatment option.
- Radiofrequency Ablation: Another minimally-invasive and yet highly effective treatment option for varicose veins is Radiofrequency ablation. This procedure utilizes thermal energy to close the diseased veins. With a success rate of 97%, this procedure is a perfect alternative to surgical treatment of varicose veins. The entire procedure beginning from the local anesthetic injection to the sealing of veins with thermal energy takes less than an hour with minimal discomfort experienced by the patient. Results of the treatment are immediate and the patient can even resume their daily activities as soon as the procedure is completed.
Meet our Vein Expert
A popular misconception regarding the qualities of a doctor is that the best ones are those with the busiest schedules. These are the doctors with whom you will need to schedule an appointment months ahead of the date, and even then will they have only a few minutes to spare for each appointment. But this could not be farther from the truth as the best treatment a patient can get is from a compassionate, available and accessible doctor who makes sure that each patient receives the individualized care that they rightfully should. Dr. Caroline Novak possesses all of these features and always prioritizes her patients above anything else. Furthermore, not only does Dr. Novak have an Advanced certification in Vascular Imaging (RPVI), she is also a Northwestern University trained, recognized vein doctor with a certificate from the American Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine and a former teaching award winner.
If you would like to know more about the best vein treatment options for you, book an appointment with the best vein doctor in Long Island North.
Our vein clinic at Long Island North is currently located at Roslyn Park in a partnership location within the Truth and Beauty Med Spa directly alongside the long island expressway. But this is just a temporary location for us until our state of the art facility in Jericho is completed.
To learn more about our accredited vein centers, please visit www.veintreatmentclinic.com. Our spider and varicose vein treatment clinics are certified by the IAC as vascular imaging centers and vein treatment centers of excellence. We have local affiliates in New York, Long Island, New Jersey, Texas and California, all of which are held to the highest standards of patient-centered, compassionate, care. We offer the latest technology at every location, and our harvard-trained medical directors lead a collaborative effort to ensure the best outcome for every patient we meet.