Frequently Asked Questions

• What are varicose veins?

  Varicose veins are part of a disease process called Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI). Blood pools in the leg veins instead of returning to the heart, causing bulging veins. The myth is that these bulging veins are only a cosmetic issue. The truth is they also cause serious symptoms such as aching, throbbing, heaviness, fatigue, ankle swelling, restless legs at night, cramping and charley horses, itchiness and prickly feeling, skin discoloration, and/or ulceration (skin breakdown).

• How common are varicose veins?

  Chronic venous insufficiency affects many people of all backgrounds. Estimates indicate that up to 40% of the U.S. population has some type of venous insufficiency. However, many people have symptoms without having visible varicose veins.

  What are the risk factors for varicose veins?

  • Heredity
  • Prior pregnancy
  • Job or lifestyle where you are constantly standing
  • Prior leg trauma or surgery
• What are the signs and symptoms of varicose veins?

  Symptoms may include aching/throbbing, leg heaviness or fatigue, restlessness of the legs at night (or inability to get comfortable in bed), ankle swelling, bulging varicose veins, charley horses or severe cramping, easy bruising, hardening of the skin, darkening of the skin (especially around the ankles), or skin ulceration in severe cases. Many people may experience symptoms without visible varicose veins.

• Is ‘restless leg syndrome’ related to varicose veins?

  Recent research at the Vein Treatment Center suggests a strong correlation. Patient with abnormal veins often have restless legs, especially at night or have nighttime cramping and charley horses.

• What does 'minimally invasive procedures' actually mean?

  Prior to 2005, the only treatment for varicose veins was a major surgery called vein stripping. Our procedures are all minimally invasive, which means that we do them all through tiny incisions using only numbing medication. No open surgery, no big incisions, no blood loss, no anesthesia or sedation. This has major advantages in that they are safer, more effective, hurt less afterwards, have quicker recovery, and are associated with less complications. All of our procedures are performed in our office, and patients typically go home 15 minutes after the procedure is done.

• Do the procedures hurt?

  We do not use general anesthesia or sedation for our office procedures. We perform all of our procedures at the office with numbing agents such as lidocaine. We can do this because everything is minimally invasive. Most patients do feel the tiny needle pinches, but almost all say that they tolerate this quite well. Many people have stated that the pain during our procedures is similar to the level of pain from getting blood drawn or to having your teeth cleaned.

• How many procedures will I need? How long do they take?

  This all depends on the problem and the course of treatment. This can only be determined after the consultation with your physician and discussion of your individualized treatment plan. On average, most of our varicose vein patients need 1-3 treatment days and most of our cosmetic spider vein patients require 2-5 cosmetic sclerotherapy treatments. For each procedure day, patients should expect to be in our office for 45-90 minutes total. We will tell you prior to your appointment how long each one should take.

• Are the procedures safe?

  Yes, the procedures are exceedingly safe. The main risks for our procedures, like most other procedures and surgeries, are DVT (or blood clot), skin or nerve damage, bleeding, and infection. We do everything in our power to minimize these complications and take great pride in following our patients immediately after and long-term to make sure the risks are as low as possible. All of our interventional radiologists and staff are board-certified and trained with years of expertise in venous care.

• What is the success rate of these procedures?

  Across the board for all the procedure performed at our practice, our success rate is exemplary. There are two measures we track for our success rate for vein treatments - technical success rate (which tracks whether we did what we aimed to do in our procedure) and clinical success rate (which tracks whether our patients actually got better). Our technical success rate is above 99% in terms of vein closure. Our clinical success rate is approximately 92% for patients, who get complete or mostly complete relief of symptoms.

• How much experience does The Vein Treatment Center have?

  Treating veins is all we do, and we have been doing it for years. We have seen and diagnosed thousands of patients in the Rochester area. Our physicians have over 65 years of combined experience treating veins.

• Are procedures covered by insurance?

  Procedures performed at The Vein Treatment Center are typically covered by insurance if varicose veins are causing symptoms. Staff will help ensure that you meet your plan’s requirements and will file all necessary paperwork to get your treatment pre-authorized. Cosmetic sclerotherapy is not covered by insurance - please call for pricing. 

• I’m not sure if I have varicose veins or symptoms. How can I check to see if this is my problem?

  We understand that many people don’t have the classic bulging varicose veins and many of the symptoms are vague or simply may be mistaken for “aging” or “wear and tear”. At the Vein Treatment Center, we regularly hold vein screenings, where you can come find out if you have the underlying problem causing varicose veins and if our treatments can help you.