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RETURN TO NORMAL LIFE AFTER THE TREATMENT

 

New varicose veins treatments are the performed under local anesthesia and ultrasound guidance while the patient is awake and therefore have very few side effects and risks. However, unlike classical surgery, the vessels and varicose veins are not removed from the body. Instead, they are destroyed by laser, radiofrequency and foam and as a result, they are gradually reduced in size by the body and become invisible after a while. This downsizing process continues for months after treatment. Below is a summary of what to do and not to do after treatment.

 

1. The compression stockings applied to your legs after treatment should not be removed at all for at least 1 day. These stockings prevent the venous blood from filling the treated vessels again and increase the effectiveness of the treatment and also reduce the complaints after the treatment such as pain redness and swelling. For this reason, compression stockings should not be abandoned unless instructed otherwise by your doctor. On the night of the second day, you can take off your stockings and take a bath before going to bed. After the bath, you can go to bed without wearing  stockings. As soon as you get out of bed the next morning, please wear the varicose stockings again. After that, wear the varicose stockings during the day and remove them before you go to bed and use them in this way for at least one month unless otherwise indicated by your doctor.

 

2. Raise your feet by placing a pillow under your foot in bed for a week after treatment to reduce edema. You can remove this pad later.

 

3. You should be as active and active as possible on the day of treatment. We certainly do not recommend that you go home and rest after treatment. On the contrary, it is useful to walk for about 5 minutes without getting tired and to put your foot on a stool and make occasional foot movements. We also recommend that you be active the first evening and not go to bed early.

 

4. You should not drive on the day of treatment because the local anesthetic and bandage on your leg may make leg movements difficult. There is no anesthetic effect from the next day on, but we still recommend you to be careful if you have to drive and not to go long distance if possible.

 

5. During the period of wearing compression stockings, avoid standing for a long time or hanging your leg down while sitting. If you have to stand, accelerate your blood circulation by flexing and extenting your feet, or make walking movements. When you are seated, place your treated legs on a chair or stool, above the navel. If this is not possible, move your feet as described above. It is recommended that you make this movement during the long airplane and bus trips or in situations where you have to sit for a long time.

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6. In the first days after treatment, avoid prolonged car or air travel if possible. If you need to go on a trip, consult your doctor and find out what to do during your trip.

 

7. Avoid baths, saunas, hot baths and spas for at least one month after treatment. Make sure to be in cool environments as long as possible. After 2 weeks of treatment, you can do sports like walking and swimming. However, sports that challenge and exhaust you will do more harm than good in this period; we recommend therefore that you avoid strenuous activities such as aerobic, weight lifting etc.

 

8. There may be complaints such as pain in the leg, burning and tension in the first few weeks after treatment. During this period, you need to take NSAIDs given by your doctor, even if you do not have pain. Because these drugs will both reduce your pain and speed up the healing process by reducing the trauma in the tissues caused by treatment. Pain after the procedure is completely normal and transient. If your pain does not go away with these pills, you can take the medicines containing paracetamol once every 8 hours. If you still have pain, please consult us.

 

9. It is normal for you to see bruises and redness on your legs when you remove the varicose stockings and to feel sensitivity and stiffness in the area of ​​the varicose veins. In addition, transient numbness, prickle, and burning may occur around the ankle and heel, particularly in patients who are laser-applied to the knee. They will heal spontaneously in the following months.

 

10. After treatment, symptoms such as pain, burning, fullness and cramping in your legs may be reduced or disappear completely. You can see that varicose veins shrink significantly in 1-2 months. The shrinkage of varices will continue in the following months. If varices do not shrink sufficiently, sclerotherapy may be repeated.

 

11. In varicose veins treated with sclerotherapy, some patients may experience a darkening of the skin even if the varicose veins disappear. This condition is called pigmentation and heal spontaneously in one year after sclerotherapy in 90% of cases. These darkenings may be persistent in approximately 5% of patients. In these cases, it can be treated dermatologically by superficial laser treatment.

 

12. In some patients, small ulcers may occur after sclerotherapy. The reason for these ulcers is that there may be connections between spider veins and capillary arteries in some people and that sclerotherapy medication escapes into these tiny arteries. For these wounds, it is usually sufficient to use only antibiotic cream and leave the wound open as long as possible. However, unlike other wounds, these ulcers heal more slowly (may take months) and therefore, you should be patient.

 

13. Make an appointment again for control ultrasound 3-4 weeks after treatment. Control ultrasonography will check whether the treated vessels and varices are closed and whether additional treatment is needed. There is no additional fee for this examination in our clinic.

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