Vein Treatment Services

Introducing a Virtually Pain Free Treatment Alternative

Varicose Veins can be both painful and embarrassing.
And, they are often accompanied by leg swelling, fatigue or other leg problems. For millions of Americans, the underlying cause of varicose veins is a disorder known as Venous Reflux Disease - an often painful leg condition that, if left untreated, will only get worse over time.

In the past, painful vein stripping surgery was the only long term solution. Fortunately, this disease can now be treated with a simple, virtually pain free outpatient procedure using radiofrequency energy. This procedure is a minimally invasive alternative offering a fast, painless, permanent solution to people who live with this agonizing condition every day.

What Causes Venous Reflux Disease?
Venous Reflux Disease is a condition in which the valves that allow blood flow through the legs back to the heart become diseased or damaged. Damage often occurs in people who sit or stand for extreme periods, are obese, have had multiple pregnancies or have a family history of vein disease.

Once these valves are damaged, blood cannot flow properly and often results in:

• venous insufficiency (blood pooling back into the legs and feet)
• severe leg pain
• leg heaviness or swelling
• varicose veins
• skin discoloration or leg ulcers
• Without treatment, these conditions will continue to deteriorate.

Treating Vein Disease
People who suffer from venous reflux disease may find some relief from these symptoms through the use of support hose, which compress painful leg veins, or through injection therapy—a process in which damaged veins are blocked and blood is rerouted.

However, for permanent relief of varicose veins surgery may be the preferred treatment option. Traditionally, this meant undergoing painful vein stripping—the process of pulling diseased veins out of a leg. This procedure involves several large incisions and often takes many weeks to fully recover.

Now, many patients who previously would have undergone vein stripping can turn to a less invasive treatment option using radio frequency energy.

What is Radiofrequency Energy?
The use of radiofrequency energy provides a virtually pain free treatment alternative for vein disease.

During this outpatient procedure, one tiny incision is made in the leg. The physician uses ultrasound technology to guide a tiny catheter through this incision into the diseased vein. Heat is then applied to the vein walls using radio energy. This energy causes the vein to close and re-routes the blood through healthy veins back to the heart.

What Are the Advantages?
With this procedure, varicose veins have a much lower recurrence rate than traditional vein stripping. With stripping, patients often worry about internal bleeding, infection, blood clots or nerve damage. Using radio energy, these risks are virtually eliminated.

Patients are back to normal daily activities usually within 24 hours and fully recovered typically up to one week less than with vein stripping. Other advantages in the use of radiofrequency energy include:

• less recovery time
• earlier return to normal daily activities
• less pain during and after the procedure
• minimal scarring and swelling
• higher quality of life
• Also, patients using radiofrequency energy often have significantly better long term results compared to vein stripping.

Radiofrequency energy procedures are often covered by insurance. For more information about this technique, or to find out if you are a candidate, contact the Columbia St. Mary's Glendale Clinic at (414) 270-8150.

Glendale Clinic-Green Bay Road
9233 N. Green Bay Road
Brown Deer, WI 3209
(414) 270-8150