Varicose vein foam sclerotherapy treatment aftercare – what to expect
Straight after your treatment
At the end of your treatment, I will apply a light compression bandage up to your knee. If I have treated veins in your thigh, I will also apply strips of elastic adhesive compression over those areas.
Please keep these in place for 48 hours, after which you can remove them yourself. They soak off easily in the bath. For men, removing the thigh strips is much more comfortable if you shave the area before your procedure.
How the treatment works
Foam sclerotherapy works by deliberately causing inflammation inside the treated vein. This inflammation destroys the inner lining of the vein wall (known as the endothelium), which is how the treatment gets rid of the problem vein.
The medical name for this inflammation is phlebitis. Although it can sound worrying, phlebitis is not a complication. It is a normal and expected part of how the treatment works.
What you may notice
As with any inflammation, you may notice some or all of the following around the treated veins:
- redness
- swelling
- warmth
- tenderness and pain
- lumps, caused by small blood clots forming inside the treated veins
Put simply, your treated veins will usually go from feeling soft and lumpy to feeling hard and lumpy for a while. This is temporary.
This is not an infection, so you will not need antibiotics.
Every patient is different, and even the same patient can react differently from one treatment session to the next. The inflammation always settles, although it may flare up and settle again for a few days at a time during the weeks after your treatment.
FAQs…
Aftercare Explained Video – 49 seconds
A good sign that your treatment has worked
Many patients find that the aching, itching, or other symptoms caused by their varicose veins disappear straight after treatment. This is a good sign. Instead, you may feel some localised pain and tenderness over the treated veins, which gradually eases with time.
Getting back to normal
Around nine in ten patients (90%) find that treatment does not stop them from carrying on with their normal activities. I encourage you to go back to work as usual the day after your treatment.
How your recovery usually progresses
- The first few days: pain and tenderness usually settle first.
- The following weeks: the hard lumps in the treated veins slowly shrink and flatten.
- The following months: some staining of the skin is common as part of the healing process. This fades gradually, but it can take many months to disappear completely.
If you have more discomfort
Around one in ten patients (10%) have more pain and discomfort, which may interfere with their normal activities for at least a few days. If this happens to you, the following can help:
- ice packs applied to the sore areas (wrap them in a cloth rather than placing them directly on your skin)
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory creams or gels
- class II compression stockings or flight socks
- anti-inflammatory tablets, if they are suitable for you (please check with your pharmacist or GP if you are unsure)
In the most severe cases, I can remove some of the trapped blood from a painful lump using a small needle under local anaesthetic. In my experience, this is very rarely needed.
Will my varicose veins come back?
Over the very long term (decades), varicose veins can come back, whichever treatment you have. These are known as recurrent varicose veins.
The results of foam sclerotherapy are as good as those of open surgery. Around 15% of patients have some recurrence after five years. In other words, after successful treatment, you have an 85% chance of your leg being free of major varicose veins five years later.
Video appointments
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