Do Vein Procedures Hurt and Is There a Long Recovery Time?

At Precision Vein Care, our goal is to provide minimally invasive vein treatments, tailored to your symptoms and anatomy.  As a standalone office vein practice, we are able to provide procedural services directly in our office, with direct access to our very own procedure rooms each day.  Because of this, we do not require an appointment in our office and then a hospital visit at a later date for your procedure.  It’s convenient one stop shopping.   

For those seeking cosmetic treatments for spider or small varicose veins, we offer liquid and foam sclerotherapy, procedures utilizing injections of medications using very small needles directly into the problematic vein.  Other than a small ‘sting’ the procedure is very well tolerated by all, and patients can very easily drive to and from the office for treatment.  Recovery time is minimal, and your usual activities can be resumed within a day or two without discomfort nor compromising treatment success. 

For bigger vein issues, such as varicose veins, we offer the full spectrum of minimally invasive, office-based vein procedures.  We are equipped and have experience providing three endovascular therapies to treat your veins as well as a minor surgical procedure.  We will tailor each of these offerings to your particular symptom complex, vein anatomy as seen clinically and on ultrasound exam, while paying particular attention to your insurance coverage—all with the goal of creating a unique, individualized, and low-cost plan of attack for you. 

The endovascular procedures have had little to no procedure or post-procedure discomfort, little to no downtime, and excellent results.  We offer ClosureFast ablation, VenaSeal ablation, and Varithena ablation.  Common to each procedure is the goal of forcing the abnormal vein to shut down, with flow then directed into the normal veins. Each procedure involves an intravenous needle puncture akin to giving blood or getting IV medication or fluid, with a small amount of lidocaine used to numb the skin. After the procedure, we wrap your leg or place your compression sock on, to help keep the vein collapsed.  Within a day, patients are back to normal activities, are back to work without restriction, and have little to no discomfort. 

In some situations, a small surgical procedure, called stab phlebectomy, is required to remove more stubborn veins that remain symptomatic.  But, this is also a short, office-based procedure, and does not require a trip to the hospital like major surgery.  The procedure involves marking the abnormal veins with a pen while standing, injecting lidocaine next to the offending vein, making a small skin puncture in the numb area, and the vein removed with a special hook.  If the skin puncture is small enough, you may not even require a suture to close the wound.  While somewhat more invasive than the other techniques described above, it typically takes less than an hour, any post-procedure discomfort treated easily with medication, and recovery still very rapid.

Each of the procedures described, when performed alone or in combination, have mild to no discomfort post-procedure.  In fact, we only typically recommend pain medication for stab phlebectomy, in the form of Ibuprofen or Tylenol products; it is exceptionally rare to ever require narcotic medications.  Patients are able to resume their usual activities, exercise, and employment in just a few days in the overwhelming majority of patients.  So, don’t wait, get your vein evaluation today, and get on the pathway to having your legs look and feel great!

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