About a quarter of American adults suffer from varicose veins — bulging, purplish veins often accompanied by pain and other bothersome symptoms. While a lot of people think these veins are only a cosmetic issue, they affect your circulatory health, too, so having them treated is important.
At Middle Georgia Vascular Surgery Center, Dr. Allison Burkett offers several options for treating varicose veins, including state-of-the-art minimally invasive treatments like VenaSeal™ and ClosureFast™. Here’s how these treatments work, so you can decide which one might be a better choice for you.
Both VenaSeal and ClosureFast are popular options for treating varicose veins, and both use ultrasound to ensure your treatment is precise and effective. But there are some important differences between the two approaches.
VenaSeal uses a medical-grade adhesive to seal off damaged varicose veins. During your treatment, Dr. Burkett numbs your skin and makes a tiny incision, inserting a thin tube called a catheter into your vein. She uses ultrasound imaging to guide your vein treatment.
When the catheter is in place, she dispenses a small amount of adhesive, gradually moving the catheter along the vein wall to ensure the entire vein is treated. Afterward, the vein walls “stick” to each other, closing off the vein so blood no longer flows through it. Instead, blood is rerouted to healthy veins in the same area.
Over the following few weeks, the vein material is absorbed by your body and eliminated through your body’s “waste disposal” system.
ClosureFast also closes off diseased varicose veins, but it does it in a different way. The ClosureFast system uses radiofrequency energy to gently heat the vein walls, causing the vein to shrink and collapse.
After the skin is numbed using a local anesthetic, Dr. Burkett makes a tiny incision and inserts a catheter into the damaged vein. The catheter delivers measured doses of radiofrequency energy as Dr. Burkett advances it through the vein.
As with VenaSeal, blood is diverted to neighboring veins, and the diseased vein is absorbed and eliminated through the body's natural waste process.
Both VenaSeal and ClosureFast are very effective in treating varicose veins. In fact, a recent study found that when compared, both methods achieved similar rates of success and high levels of patient satisfaction, as well as significant improvement in quality of life measures throughout the 24-month follow-up period.
The only way to know which one is the better option for your veins is to schedule an evaluation with Dr. Burkett. Because she has considerable experience in both techniques, she’s skilled in making treatment recommendations based on each patient’s unique needs.
Varicose veins are visual evidence that there’s a problem with the way your blood is circulating. Prompt treatment is the best way to eliminate the diseased veins and restore normal blood flow.
To learn more about VenaSeal, ClosureFast, and other varicose vein treatments we offer, call (478) 238-5513 or book an appointment online at Middle Georgia Vascular Surgery Center & Vein Solutions today.
