Although it is possible to develop vein disease early in life, the majority of Americans with vein disease tend to be in their 50s, 60s, or older. Sadly, one of the things that often happens is that when these older adults develop varicose veins, spider veins, or other types of vein disease, they fail to seek treatment for these conditions because they are afraid of the possible risks involved in the treatments themselves. This is doubly sad because without proper treatment vein diseases don’t get better – they get worse, and can cause a number of complications that can greatly reduce these older adults’ quality of life. In this article Hawaii vein specialists hope to deal with some of the fears and concerns, and discuss how safe modern vein disease treatment is, especially for older patients.
Vein disease treatments are safe for people of any age
Just look at the statistic we present in our first sentence above, that the vast majority of vein disease is seen in people over the age of 60. As a result, most of the advances in medical science that have led up to modern vein disease treatment methodologies have been specifically developed with an older group of patients in mind. It makes perfect sense, right? If we were treating a disease that strikes only children, we’d make sure that our treatments were safe for children. Well, vein care specialists in Kauai and Maui primarily treat people who are over 60, so of course we design treatments that are safe for that age group.
Treatment starts with non-invasive diagnosis and conservative methods
In our vein treatment center in Hawaii, we often encounter older adults who are afraid of even seeking diagnostic treatment for their varicose veins or swollen legs and ankles, because they are afraid that even the diagnostic procedures used to detect these diseases will be painful or traumatic. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to modern venous health screenings. The diagnostic procedures we use are non-invasive, meaning that they do not break the skin or invade a body cavity. Instead, we take advantage of technologies like Doppler ultrasound to look below the surface of your skin to make sure blood is flowing properly and to locate blood clots painlessly, and with no risk.
If our findings indicate that you have vein disease, at our vein practice on Maui and Kauai we tend to start by treating mild cases conservatively, recommending compression stockings to improve your circulation and lifestyle changes to lower your risk. These treatments, of course, are also painless and risk-free, and they have the benefit of improving your overall health as they manage your vein disease symptoms.
For more serious cases, minimally-invasive methods further reduce risk
Most of the risks associated with any type of medical treatment arise from the need for invasive surgery. Any time a patient has to go into a hospital, receive general anesthesia, and undergo a surgical process in which deep incisions are made, there is going to be risk. Furthermore, incisions leave scars, and the trauma of invasive surgery can require many months to fully recover from.
That is why the minimally-invasive modern treatments used in our Maui vein treatment center are so safe. Treatments such as sclerotherapy (used to remove varicose veins and spider veins) are so painless that they require no anesthesia at all. The doctor inserts a tiny needle smaller than the one used to give you a flu shot directly into the diseased vein and injects a sealing solution to close the vein. Endovenous laser therapy (sometimes used to close larger veins or destroy blood clots that have formed in them) is an equally painless and minimally-invasive method. These procedures are performed in our comfortable offices (not a hospital), and are so gentle that many people literally have their varicose veins removed on their lunch break, and then return to work. There is no scarring and no need for “recovery time” because there is nothing to recover from.
So whether you are 20 or 80, your vein treatment at Vein Clinics of Hawaii is going to be painless and safe
Dr. Randall S. Juleff knows that his first responsibility is to his patients, and to their safety and sense of well-being. All of the procedures he uses – either for diagnosis or treatment – have been proven to be safe and effective in clinics worldwide. So if you have varicose veins or other signs of vein disease, you really have no need to worry – your risk from any treatment you will receive is so minimal as to be statistically non-existent. But the risk of your vein disease getting worse if you don’t seek treatment is so certain as to be inevitable. So give us a call today and set up an appointment for your own venous health screening. You’ll be happy you did.
