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Already from the name of the industry you can understand that phlebology involves the use of comprehensive measures to solve problems with blood vessels. Phlebologists at our clinic specialize in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of vein diseases.
The clinic’s specialists have achieved particular success in the treatment of varicose veins. An individual program and control at each stage allow you to quickly achieve the desired result and consolidate it, completely relieving the patient of vascular disease.
Doctors at the Health Balance clinic use advanced techniques for detecting and treating vascular pathologies. Using modern equipment, specialists find the root cause of the disease and eliminate it along with the consequences.
By seeking help from a specialist in a timely manner, the patient prevents the possibility of serious consequences of the disease. Doctors recommend making an appointment if you experience the following symptoms:
Particular attention should be paid to the symptoms of varicose veins. If spider veins, swelling, or discomfort appear, the best solution would be to consult a specialist. Doctors at the Health Balance clinic will quickly determine the causes of the disease and prevent it from spreading, preventing undesirable consequences.
No special training required
During the examination of the patient, the doctor evaluates various factors that led to the onset of the disease. Only after this does he develop a course of treatment. Sometimes medication and compression therapy are necessary to get rid of the problem. But in many cases it is impossible to do without surgical intervention.
If we try to identify several common features of most procedures, we can conditionally divide them into several stages:
The main thing you need to know about indications and contraindications is that only a phlebologist can determine them. It often happens that doctors from another area give their recommendations, but they are not objective, because only a specialist can establish the exact location of the lesion and select an individual method of treatment.
Qualified specialists at the Health Balance clinic provide a wide range of services. In addition to the classic set, doctors perform the following procedures:
Miniphlebectomy is the removal of varicose veins, performed through a small puncture of the skin under local anesthesia.
Vein sclerosis is the most painless way to treat varicose veins, introducing a special drug into the affected vein, which causes its walls to stick together and subsequently resolve.
Phlebectomy is one of the most highly effective, safe and low-traumatic techniques for the treatment of varicose veins with a quick and predictable result. Modern technologies make it possible to perform phlebectomy with minimal cosmetic consequences, “pulling out” the damaged vein through small incisions or punctures. Surgery for varicose veins takes place under reliable and safe spinal anesthesia in the modern operating department of the Health Balance clinic, the only one in Sochi providing phlebectomy services at an expert level.
Laser treatment of varicose veins is scientifically called endovasal laser coagulation, obliteration, EVLT or EVLA. Vascular disease has been treated using this method since the middle of the last century and immediately proved its effectiveness. Every year the procedure was improved, the equipment for its use became more and more technologically advanced. It was only a couple of decades ago that the operation was available to only a few, as it was rare and expensive. Now almost everyone can use it. Laser removal is offered by many clinics specializing in the treatment of blood vessels, and it is no longer as expensive as it used to be...
Special therapeutic devices are used for laser treatment. They either cut or cause necrosis of the treated tissue. In some cases, a laser is used, which both cuts and coagulates.
Until recently, classical devices emitting a wavelength of 960 nm were used to treat varicose veins with laser. The latest generation of these devices has a wavelength of 1470 nm. It is believed that at this wavelength the laser gives a more accurate result, which makes it possible to use it with different diameters of varicose veins.
Laser equipment is complex, so its installation poses some difficulties, which naturally affects the price of the procedure. Firstly, the installation of the laser must be carried out in special conditions - a special operating room is equipped for it. Secondly, doctors who have undergone special training and have certain qualifications can work with lasers.
Laser treatment of varicose veins on the legs involves a damaging thermal effect on the damaged vessel tissue, which must be removed. As a result:
As a result, blood stops moving through the expansion of the varicose vein network. Blood supply begins to flow through deeper veins. The result of the operation: it is possible to remove varicose reflux (reverse flow of venous blood), normalize the functioning of the valve apparatus of blood vessels, and achieve a cosmetic effect (eliminate venous stars and meshes).
After surgery, blood moves through deeper veins.
How is the operation itself carried out? The surgeon makes a small puncture in the desired area of the leg. A light guide, which is the source of the laser beam, is inserted into it and placed in the area of the varicose vein. The heat emitted by the light guide heats the blood and creates steam, which acts on the walls of the vessel. As a result, tissue damage occurs for its subsequent removal.
Now there are many ways to treat varicose veins - both therapeutic and surgical. Each method has its own specific indications for the degree of disease or the area and scale of the lesion. The results achieved by different methods are also different. According to reviews from experts in this field, laser treatment for varicose veins is most often prescribed when the veins are dilated no more than 10 mm. In this case, both the small and large saphenous veins must have an even trunk course, as it ensures the necessary introduction of the light guide.
Laser treatment of varicose veins has certain advantages over other methods of treating this disease. Most often in positive reviews, patients praise the operation for the following:
This procedure does not require surgical incisions.
In reviews, people also note that there is no pain during laser surgery. There is no particular discomfort after the local anesthesia wears off. Minor bruising at the puncture site is acceptable. But they dissolve on their own within a couple of days. Thanks to the normalization of blood circulation, immediately after the operation, swelling and heaviness in the legs disappear, the person feels much better than before the operation, when he was tormented by the symptoms of varicose veins in the legs.
There are a number of cases when doctors do not recommend EVLT. Such cases are:
Laser treatment also has strict contraindications for the patient’s health. For example, this method of getting rid of varicose veins on the legs is completely unsuitable for patients:
By the way, laser as a treatment is not recommended for women during pregnancy (in any trimester) and while breastfeeding.
This treatment method is not suitable for people with circulatory problems.
Many people do not know exactly how much laser treatment for varicose veins of the lower extremities costs, so they think that it is too expensive for them. In fact, the price of the procedure is no more than other methods of surgery. Here is a comparison of the approximate prices for different methods of invasive treatment of varicose veins in private clinics:
Methods of surgical treatment of varicose veins on the legs
Varicose veins of the legs are not only a cosmetic problem, but also a serious pathology, which is accompanied by dangerous consequences for health. Laser treatment of varicose veins is one of the most modern, low-traumatic and reliable ways to cope with the disease at an early stage. It allows you to achieve an excellent aesthetic effect, has a minimal risk of complications and a short rehabilitation period.
Traditional drug therapy in combination with physical therapy and wearing corrective underwear also gives good results, but does not eliminate the underlying cause of the disease. To radically solve the problem of diseased vessels, surgical intervention is required. Classic removal surgery (phlebectomy) is difficult for patients to tolerate because it is very traumatic and is accompanied by a high risk of infectious complications. This method is gradually becoming a thing of the past. It is being replaced by minimally invasive procedures (sclerotherapy, laser therapy), which give excellent results and allow you to quickly and painlessly get rid of varicose veins.
For varicose veins, laser correction is considered the most reliable and effective treatment method. This method is based on the use of the thermal effect for coagulation of blood vessels. Simply put, a light guide introduced into the affected vessel during surgery emits a stream of energy. This radiation is absorbed by hemoglobin in the blood, releasing heat, which warms the blood cells and vessel walls. As a result, the blood is squeezed out of the vessel, and the vein itself is “sealed.” The blood flow stops completely, and venous outflow from the surrounding tissues is already carried out through other, healthy veins.
Wearing compression garments after laser treatment of varicose veins perpetuates the effect, creating additional pressure on the vessel and preventing blood flow in the damaged vein from being restored. Over time, the vessel becomes overgrown with connective tissue. Compliance with measures to prevent varicose veins will not allow damage to other veins to develop, so the disease will be cured forever.
The advantage of the method is its low invasiveness, the absence of blood loss and extensive incisions. And since there is no entrance gate for infection, then the risk of damage to neighboring tissues and possible complications is minimized.
Laser treatment of varicose veins is a low-traumatic procedure, it does not require special preparation and is performed under local anesthesia. The operation is carried out only in a specialized medical institution; the progress of the operation is monitored by ultrasound in real time. That is, the surgeon uses ultrasound to monitor the progress of the LED through the vein. Before the operation, the patient must undergo the necessary examination, during which the location of the affected venous vessel is clarified and the most optimal method of laser coagulation is selected.
The basis for laser treatment of varicose veins is varicose veins of the saphenous veins (large and small). The laser is used if the mouths of these veins are dilated by no more than 1 cm, the vessels themselves have a smooth course without sharp bends, and their branches are healthy or slightly dilated. That is, the laser is effective only at the initial stage of varicose veins, with a small degree of severity of the process and only when used on the saphenous veins. If the disease is advanced and the affected vessel is dilated by more than 1 cm, there is a high probability that in the future the vein will “unstick” again and treatment will be ineffective.
A medical laser has a therapeutic effect on a very small area - this allows you to avoid its negative effects on surrounding tissues. Therefore, the use of laser therapy on large areas of damaged vessels, as well as on deep veins, is ineffective. In these cases, it is necessary to use other methods of surgical treatment that are more suitable for the given situation (for example, classic phlebectomy).
In addition to cases where the laser will be ineffective, there are situations where its use may harm the patient's health. There are quite a few contraindications for the laser procedure; they can be divided into absolute and relative:
If there are absolute contraindications, it is strictly forbidden to carry out therapeutic manipulations. The list of such conditions includes:
In these diseases, the laser can damage the walls of blood vessels or provoke massive vein thrombosis. Contraindications also include the inability to move actively and wear compression stockings. Without these measures in the postoperative period, laser treatment may completely lose its effectiveness, and also provoke inflammation in the vessel.
Relative contraindications are those in which the operation must be postponed for a while. These are inflammatory processes on the skin of the legs, especially near the site of the future puncture, exacerbation of chronic diseases. In this case, it is necessary to first treat concomitant pathologies, and only then perform surgery. If this is not done, then the risk of complications in the postoperative period is very high - both from the operated veins and from the disease that has become a contraindication to laser treatment.
The operation should not be performed during pregnancy and breastfeeding, because during this period the immune system is weakened and the load on the lower limbs is higher than usual. For the same reason, it is difficult to carry out laser treatment for varicose veins in overweight people - they tolerate anesthesia less well, and due to the heavy load on the legs, complications are possible in the postoperative period.
Despite the high cost of treating varicose veins on the legs with laser, this procedure is gaining increasing popularity due to its simplicity and effectiveness. To determine whether there are indications for surgery, a duplex ultrasound examination is first performed. It helps to see the structure of the veins, the degree of their damage and blood flow disturbances. If the condition of the patient’s blood vessels allows laser treatment, then surgery is prescribed.
On the day of the procedure, no special preparation of the patient is required. If necessary, you can take a sedative. Before the operation, another duplex angioscanning is performed, all manipulations occur under ultrasound control. The small scale of the operation allows you to avoid general anesthesia and associated complications - laser treatment is carried out under local anesthesia, which numbs the puncture site.
The essence of the operation to treat varicose veins with a laser is that a light guide connected to a laser device is inserted into the damaged vessel through a small puncture in the skin of the leg. Then, using laser radiation, the damaged vessel is coagulated, after which the light guide is removed, the puncture site is treated with a local antiseptic, and a sterile bandage is applied to it. The operation itself lasts about 15-30 minutes (to treat one leg).
After being forced to lie on the operating table, it is recommended to move to a vertical position slowly and gradually - first sit down and only then stand up. This will avoid vascular collapse with a sudden change in body position. There are no more restrictions. Some time after the procedure, the patient can go home.
Before the operation, the patient must buy compression garments in advance - stockings or tights. The degree of compression is discussed with the doctor in advance.
After laser removal of varicose veins, you should immediately put a compression stocking on your leg. During the first two days you need to wear it constantly without taking it off. Then, if there are no complications, the doctor will allow you to remove the medical underwear at night. The duration of wearing medical knitwear gradually decreases as the operated vessel is finally overgrown with connective tissue. Due to the need to wear compression garments, they try to schedule the operation during the cold season so that the patient does not experience discomfort when wearing stockings for a long time. In addition, patients with vascular diseases feel much better in cool weather than in hot weather.
In the first week after laser treatment of varicose veins, you should avoid significant stress on your legs, heavy lifting, and you should not visit the bathhouse, sauna or swimming pool. In the future, you need to gradually increase the degree of physical activity. Hiking, running and cycling, aerobics, and swimming are recommended. The patient can play sports, walk long distances, and drive a vehicle. Contraction of the transversely striated muscles of the legs will act as an additional pump and help improve venous outflow from the lower extremities. This is a natural mechanism, the use of which will help avoid recurrence of varicose veins after surgery.
You can start working, if it does not involve heavy physical activity or prolonged standing, almost immediately, even on the day of surgery. Potential housework can also be done a few days after the intervention. You can and should walk in the first minutes after surgery, wearing compression garments.
Laser treatment of varicose veins is particularly popular due to the short rehabilitation period, absence of pain and minimal risk of complications. However, they are not completely excluded. During surgery, pain may occur if anesthesia is administered incorrectly. After the procedure, pain may appear along the operated vein. If the pain does not subside within two days, you should definitely consult a doctor - this may be a sign of serious complications.
Errors in the manipulation can cause burns of the skin and soft tissues, hematomas at the puncture site, suppuration and inflammatory processes. In rare cases, vein thrombosis, including deep veins, is possible, which leads to a noticeable deterioration in the patient’s condition. You should consult a doctor immediately if:
In order to diagnose these complications in a timely manner, it is recommended to see a phlebologist on the second day after surgery and then regularly come for routine examinations.
Experts advise following simple preventive measures to prevent possible relapses of the disease:
Laser treatment of varicose veins has many significant advantages over other surgical methods. Let us list the main advantages of laser therapy:
For all its attractiveness, this method has a number of disadvantages, including:
Before deciding on laser therapy, you should weigh the pros and cons, undergo a full examination and get advice from an experienced specialist.
The price of laser treatment for varicose veins is one of the significant disadvantages of this method. It can vary widely, depending on the degree of complexity, the individual characteristics of the patient, the equipment used, the status of the clinic and the qualifications of the surgeons. On average, the procedure will cost 28,000 – 40,000 rubles. But to this amount you must also add the costs of examination, diagnosis and consultation with a phlebologist. However, the operation is not urgent, and its implementation and financial expenses associated with the intervention can be planned in advance.
Reviews about the treatment of varicose veins with laser are generally positive. Patients say that the procedure is easily tolerated and there is practically no pain during the manipulations. Some discomfort is felt only at the moment of puncture and insertion of the light guide into the vein. The postoperative period is also easy, without serious complications, although many patients note a slight nagging pain along the operated vein. But these unpleasant consequences are easily relieved by taking tablet analgesics.
For the first time I had to deal with manifestations of varicose veins during pregnancy. But I couldn’t even think about any operation at that time. After the birth of the baby, life centered around her: sleepless nights, care, feeding. When I saw the doctor again, it turned out that the disease was progressing and medications would be of little help. The doctor recommended laser therapy. In the end, everything went well, there was no pain, only after the intervention I felt discomfort and a pulling sensation in my leg. To properly distribute the load, compression stockings were put on immediately after the procedure. I was able to return to my normal lifestyle within a few days and am very pleased with the result.
The veins in my legs began to appear after 30 years. Over time, the condition worsened, I had to go to an appointment with a phlebologist at a paid clinic. The doctor said that the best option for me is laser coagulation. The operation was performed under local anesthesia; the diseased vein was “soldered” along its entire length through an inconspicuous puncture. After the procedure, they put compression stockings on my leg to evenly distribute the load and forced me to walk around the ward. Two hours later they sent me home. There were no traces of the intervention left on the leg, and the small bruise at the puncture site disappeared after a few days.
Three months ago, a diseased vein in my leg was removed with a laser. The operation went without complications. There was only slight discomfort when the instrument was inserted into the vein. The very next day after the procedure I was able to return to my normal life, I didn’t even have to take a sick leave. The procedure is expensive, I had to pay more than 35,000 rubles for 1 leg, but it is worth the money.