Venous insufficiencies are conditions that create vein damage. Veins carry deoxygenated blood back to your heart from your organs and tissues (in contrast to arteries, which carry oxygen-rich blood to your organs and tissues from your heart). There are numerous venous insufficiencies. At TMSC, we treat three of them: spider veins, reticular veins, and varicose veins.
Here’s what they are:
Venous insufficiencies are often a cosmetic concern for people affected by them. In some cases, they can cause pain and discomfort. Regardless of the reasoning, our vascular surgeon provides expertise in venous insufficiency treatment Toronto patients can rely on. Whether spider veins, reticular veins, or varicose veins, we have you covered.
Venous insufficiencies occur when veins cluster below the surface of the skin and their valves stop functioning correctly, leading to discolourations. Essentially, veins are meant to carry blood back to your heart. They contain a one-way valve that closes once the blood has passed through to prevent it from flowing backward. In addition to that, your veins are working against gravity to return blood to the heart. If the valve weakens or is damaged for any reason, it begins to malfunction, preventing regular blood flow and resulting in the pooling of blood inside the veins. This then creates a bulge in the vein, which branches out to form spider veins, reticular veins, and/or varicose veins.
Varicose veins in particular usually occur due to reflux in the greater and lesser saphenous veins. Risk factors that can lead to spider veins, reticular veins, or varicose veins include:
At The Minor Surgery Center, our highly experienced vascular surgeon treats all three venous insufficiencies., including:
We treat spider veins via transcutaneous laser therapy or sclerotherapy injection. Transcutaneous laser therapy involves the application of a laser impulse through the skin that selectively “attacks” the affected veins, leading to their denaturation and coagulation followed by resorption and disappearance. One of the primary advantages this treatment allows is that it does not require any incisions or punctures to the skin.
Sclerotherapy injection, on the other hand, is a procedure that involves injecting a solution (usually a salt solution) into the affected veins. The lining of the vein is irritated by the solution, which causes it to collapse and stick together, forming a blood clot. Then, over time, the vein turns into scar tissue which fades away. Sclerotherapy is a highly reliable procedure that has been used since the 1930s.
At TMSC, we use sclerodex, a low-dose sclerosing agent that avoids staining. It is injected using a very fine needle. The number of veins injected varies on a case-by-case basis. The sclerotherapy injection procedure itself takes approximately 15-30 minutes to perform.
In many cases, sclerotherapy injection can be used to treat reticular veins, especially if they are confined to the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue. If sclerotherapy injection is not a viable option—which is sometimes the case when the veins are larger and deeper—then ablative therapy is required. Typically, an ultrasound is necessary to determine the type of treatment required. Ablative therapy involves using heat to damage tissue, which forms scar tissue. The scar tissue then closes the vein.
Although varicose veins usually occur due to reflux in the greater and lesser saphenous veins, an ultrasound is required to confirm the reflux and the necessary treatment. Usually, varicose vein treatment in Toronto consists of ablative therapy, which uses heat to damage tissue. This then forms scar tissue, which closes the vein.
Venous insufficiencies can be uncomfortable, cause pain, or make you feel self-conscious. If your veins are bothering you, our vascular surgeon can answer any questions you may have and guide you through your path to recovery.
