General Chat

Has anyone out there had their varicose veins done.
Mine are not too bad and just wondering wether to leave them or not for now. My doctor has said they could be injected with some kind of fluid to make them a bit better. Problem is im sick of hospitals at moment. If i have them done does anyone know if its an all day job? I had a cyst removed off my neck a few years back and went in on the morning and was stuck in hospital for ages on a ward waiting to be taken down to operating theatre. That puts me off having them done to!

Any one got any advice, please?

May have another chat with my doctor. Thanks for the replies.
I suppose i will have to get them done sooner or later! Thanks!!

Yes I have had my varicose veins injected with some sort of foam.
I had it done in a vascular clinic. and only had to have one treatment then went back after six months for a check up. Mine weren't too bad but I was conscious of them and never wore a skirt.
First I had to stand "in one's underwear" while a doctor ran a scanning thing up and down my legs and mapped all the veins. The second time I went a lady doctor injected a very fine needle full of foam into three or four main areas and emptied the foam into the veins. It swells the vein and allows the blood to flow as blood flows in the wrong direction in V. veins. I had one leg done at a time and I had to walk for two or three kms night and morning and have compression stockings on every day. Two weeks later I had to have the other leg done and have another compression stocking on and carry on with the walking night and morning.
The longer the stockings are on the better the result but they are hard to put on and even harder to keep up. I had big red blotches on my legs for a fair while but that all faded and now after nearly a year they are gone. Eventually the veins will come back but you never know I might be gone by then .
I have another vein in my left leg which will develope in time but at the moment it is O.K. I live in Aust. by the way . It is better to have them done before they get too bad and you have to have a lot of injections. It didn't hurt much the thought of it was worse than the needle.

I forgot to mention it took less than an hour to do the injections .

Hi Shazlou, I had mine stripped when I was 23 and again at 40 and they are back again but not painful 7 years later.

Its a combination of working in a job which requires me to stand all day for the last 29 years and before that 2 years waitressing at college, 2 pregnancies and my Dads inheritance of them.

He was skinny and weighed 10 stone all his life till the age of 89 and had dreadful veins but never got them done as he said they never hurt.

I wont get them done again(if it is possible to keep taking them out) unless they get really painful but at the moment they dont hurt.

You need to take into account how painful they are,your job and family history and any medical problems and then decide.
I do not regret having surgery as they were so painful and it was worth it for that for that reason.

A tip to keep the stockings up if you have the op is to get a suspender belt which will keep them up. Marjery mentioned it is difficult to keep the stockings up especially with all the walking and I found it easier to have somthing to help stop them falling down when out and about.

Teresa:)

Thanks for all the replies. Im only 41 i never thought i would get this problem until i was older!!

Hi Shazziou
I had mine stripped in 1992 and they have returned with a vengeance.
I had a consultation about 12 months ago and the risk is too high to have further surgery as the problem valve is at the back of my knee and a risk of paralysis has been explained.
My first op however was without any problems and although they were not painful I was advised to have the op as the valves were very sluggish. Medical advances will have changed the way VV's are dealt with. Mine was an overnight stay but think a day case would be the norm now.
Good luck..
Di