Strong Heart and Vascular Center

Division of Vascular Surgery

Sclerotherapy

Sclerotherapy is an ongoing office procedure. It takes up to 6 months to complete, depending on the number of varicose veins you have. It is proven safe and effective for destroying small, visible spider veins and varicose veins near the skin surface. The only risk is a very slight chance of developing a brown spot or scab where you receive the injection.

At each appointment, your surgeon will insert a tiny needle with a slerosing solution (local anesthetic and concentrated saline) into a varicose vein. This permanently damages the vein and causes it to close up or collapse. The vein then becomes scar tissue and is absorbed by the body. (Blood flow shifts to nearby healthy blood vessels.)

You might not feel anything during your sclerotherapy treatment(s). If you do feel something, it will just be a quick, slight burning that won’t last more than 5 seconds.

After your treatment, you’ll need to wear gauze pressure (compression) pads and support stockings for the next three days and just the stockings during the day for the next two weeks. You’ll return to the office in two weeks for a follow-up appointment. At that time you can decide whether you would like more sclerotherapy treatments.

Over the long-term, we recommend you continue to wear support stockings as much as possible to prevent new varicose veins.