To fully appreciate the incredible advances that have been made in the treatment of vein disease, you need to look back at how varicose veins were treated only a few decades ago. At that time, the only vein removal treatment involved hospitals, general anesthesia, making surgical incisions in the legs, and then literally scraping away the diseased veins with a scalpel using a procedure called “vein stripping.” The procedure was as painful as it sounds, and the results were far from optimal, because they left ugly scars, and required long recovery periods.

Modern minimally-invasive treatments are nothing like this

Today, vein disease can be treated without hospitalization, in the comfort of our Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Big Island offices, and often in under an hour. The treatments are so painless that they often require no anesthesia at all, and they require no recovery time because there is nothing to recover from.

For example, when small varicose veins and spider veins are treated with sclerotherapy, a tiny catheter (smaller than a flu shot needle) is inserted into the diseased vein, guided into place using ultrasound, and then a sealing liquid is inserted that causes the vein to collapse. Within a few weeks the now-sealed veins are absorbed into surrounding tissues and disappear, while healthier veins take over the job of routing blood back to your heart and lungs. All of this can be accomplished in the comfort of our offices in about an hour. Another common procedure used to treat vein disease is endovenous laser treatment, or EVLT. This procedure involves inserting a tiny catheter into place and then either sealing the diseased veins or destroying blood clots using heat or laser light. Again, the use of endovenous (inside the veins) techniques means that no deep incisions need to be made and that little or no anesthesia is needed.

What should you do to find out which vein treatments are best for you?

The most important thing is to find vein care specialists in Kauai (or Maui or Oahu or the Big Island) who are committed to working with state-of-the-art procedures and equipment. Dr. Randall S. Juleff at Vein Clinics of Hawaii and his new partner Dr. Colin E. Bailey at Bailey Vein Institute are such doctors, and their reputations as two of the best vein doctors in Hawaii attest to this.

So whether you’re interested in reducing the impact of your varicose veins via conservative treatment or eliminating them permanently, have a look at our websites. Then give us a call to schedule an initial consultation with one of our Hawaii vein specialists. You’ll be happy you did.