Non surgical treatments
There are many non conventional, alternative techniques to treat varicose veins. Next, we list and briefly explain each of these non surgical procedures to eliminate varicose veins.
Chemical or foam sclerosis. Chemical sclerosis or sclerotherapy consists of the injection of a medicine or sclerosing agent along with a local anesthetic on the vein to make it disappear. This is a rather effective non-invasive treatment when applied to 3mm varicose veins and smaller (called “vascular spiders”).
Cryosclerosis: This procedure is similar to the chemical sclerosis, only that a special needle called “cryoneedle” is used in this case. This device is divided in two compartments: one of them contains the needle with the special sclerosing agent (chrome glycerine) that tolerates low temperatures (-40ºC) without freezing, and in the other compartment carbonic snow, which provides the necessary amount of cold for the sclerosing agent to reach and maintain the -40ºC for the 30 minutes that the session takes. This treatment provides even better results than the chemical sclerosis.
TRV (varicose veins radical treatment) or sclerotherapy with microfoam. Sclerotherapy with microfoam is a very effective procedure to treat large varicose veins. This treatment sometimes replaces surgery since it is intended to treat surgically treatable varicose veins and even those which complexity may prevent obtaining good results with surgery. This procedure consists in the injection of sclerosing foam controlled with ultrasound that closes the varicose vein. It is a treatment that causes very little discomfort and does not require hospitalization or sick leave.
Thermocoagulation: It is used only for small varicose veins or vascular spiders, and it consists in applying heat over the affected vein in order to dry it.
Physiatry: This treatment is intended to prevent the loss of substances caused by poor oxygenation, in other words, to improve blood circulation.
Electrofulguration: Electrofulguration is a procedure that uses high frequency AC to treat hemorrhages derived from varicose veins.
Chromatic micropuncture: This is a technique that, through puncture, allows implanting collagen –associated to pigments –intended to correct the marks caused by varicose veins.
Dermabrasion: This method to eliminate varicose veins consists in a physic abrasion or peeling of the damaged superficial layers of the skin, including minor hemorrhages, which are later replaced by new skin.
Superficial laser treatment
Superficial laser is a new technique that uses cutting-edge equipment to eliminate small varicose veins (vascular spider veins, residual veins, etc.). The action of the heat released by the laser produces the coagulation of the blood inside the vessel, making it collapse. In order to achieve that, several sessions on the same area are required, with an interval of at least 6 weeks between each session. The results obtained with this procedure vary, and some complications may appear such as edemas and/or scabs (they are superficial, so they leave no scars and are treated like a regular burn) and pigmentation (the pigmentation of the treated areas may increase or decrease, but this is only temporary and disappears soon). In the selected cases and on the legs, the results obtained are similar to those obtain with sclerosis
