Our Vein Treatments in
California

What Is an Endovenous Ablation Procedure?

Endovenous ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that uses thermal or laser energy to destroy the unhealthy veins and reroute the accumulated blood into healthier leg veins. Endovenous ablation comes in two forms — radiofrequency ablation and laser ablation.

During radiofrequency ablation, our vein doctors use sound waves to produce thermal energy and burn the diseased vein’s walls. During laser ablation, our vein doctors use laser energy to destroy the diseased vein’s walls. Other than that difference, both procedures are identical, equally effective, and conclude within 15 to 30 minutes.

While both RF ablation and laser ablation are equally effective, we believe radiofrequency ablation causes less post-treatment discomfort. Our vein doctors generally recommend RF ablation, but they will have their reasons to favor one treatment over the other.

How Is Endovenous Ablation Performed?

During endovenous ablation, our vein doctor administers local anesthesia to numb your skin’s surface and makes an incision. The incision serves as an entry point for a small device that’s driven under ultrasound guidance into the diseased vein. Our vein doctor delivers tumescent anesthesia, an anesthetic fluid that surrounds the diseased vein for optimal comfort. Finally, the vein doctor activates the device to deliver thermal energy or laser energy into the diseased vein’s walls, making it seal shut. The accumulated blood reroutes to healthier leg veins, and the diseased vein is eventually reabsorbed by your body.

What Is VenaSeal?

VenaSeal is a cutting-edge technology manufactured by Medtronic, an incredibly renowned scientific company. Instead of closing the diseased vein with thermal or laser energy, this procedure involves using a medical-grade adhesive known as cyanoacrylate to seal the diseased vein’s walls. Cyanoacrylate glue has been used for various vascular procedures for decades, so it has a proven safety record.

What happens during venaseal?

During the venaseal procedure, our vein doctor administers local anesthesia to numb your skin’s surface and makes a small incision. Our vein doctor inserts a tube-like delivery device (catheter) with the cyanoacrylate glue, driving it under ultrasound guidance until its tip meets the diseased vein. Finally, the vein doctor injects the medical glue into your diseased vein, sealing its walls shut. The accumulated blood reroutes into healthier leg veins, restoring effective blood circulation.

What Is Sclerotherapy?

Sclerotherapy is a procedure wherein a sclerosant medication is injected into unhealthy spider veins to make them collapse and seal shut. Sclerosant is a medication that fuses and irritates vein walls, making them eventually turn into scar tissues that get reabsorbed by the body.

Various medications can be used for sclerotherapy, each producing slightly different results. Originally, sclerotherapy was performed using hypertonic saline, i.e., concentrated salt water. But we don’t use hypertonic saline because it’s painful and uncomfortable for the patients. Our vein treatment centers in California use the most effective, safest, and comfortable sclerosant solutions for the procedure.

What happens during sclerotherapy?

During the sclerotherapy session, our vein doctors administer local anesthesia to numb the skin’s surface. They inject the sclerosant medication directly into your spider veins using small needles. And they use ultrasound guidance to inject sclerosant into the veins deeper within your skin. The sclerosant medication will make your unhealthy veins collapse and shut down.

What is foam sclerotherapy?

Foam sclerotherapy is a modified version of traditional sclerotherapy. While traditional sclerotherapy involves injecting a liquid sclerosant medication into the unhealthy veins, foam sclerotherapy involves injecting a bubbly foam solution into the unhealthy veins. All sclerosant medications are “detergents,” i.e., just like dishwasher detergent, they can be mixed with room air to produce foam bubbles. Foam sclerotherapy involves injecting this foamy version of the sclerosant medication into the unhealthy veins — the foamy solution can treat larger veins.

What happens during foam sclerotherapy?

During your foam sclerotherapy procedure, our vein doctor identifies the diseased veins using ultrasound technology and administers local anesthesia to ensure your comfort. The foam solution is prepared in-office just before the treatment — our vein doctor mixes the sclerosant solution with air using two syringes. Once prepared, the vein doctor uses ultrasound guidance to inject the foam solution into your unhealthy veins.

What is pre-mixed foam sclerotherapy?

Pre-mixed foam sclerotherapy is a newer form of foam sclerotherapy wherein the foam solution doesn’t have to be prepared in-office. Instead, the foam solution comes in a pre-mixed container, so our vein doctors can simply inject it into your unhealthy veins. The pre-mixed foam solution is better than the in-office solution because of its composition — the sclerosant medication is mixed with carbon dioxide and nitrogen instead of room air. This allows the medication to travel through the bloodstream and dissipate quickly before it reaches your lungs, so there’s no risk of air embolism.

What happens during pre-mixed foam sclerotherapy?

During the pre-mixed foam sclerotherapy procedure, our vein doctor administers local anesthesia to numb your skin’s surface and uses ultrasound technology to identify the unhealthy veins. Instead of preparing the foam solution in-office, our vein doctors draw it from the canister and inject it (under ultrasound guidance) into the diseased veins just below your skin’s surface.

What Is ClariVein?

ClariVein is an incredibly advanced treatment performed using a specialized catheter (medicine delivery device) with a rotating tip. This treatment combines mechanical trauma with sclerosant medicines to damage particularly twisted and diseased veins.

What happens during clarivein?

During the clarivein procedure, our vein doctors administer local anesthesia to ensure optimal comfort and make a small incision on your skin’s surface. The catheter is gently inserted into the diseased vein, and its rotating tip is activated to mechanically damage the vein’s inner walls while simultaneously delivering the sclerosant medicine. Our vein doctors lead the catheter all along the diseased vein’s length to ensure its complete destruction.

What is vein surgery?

Vein surgery is the traditional approach to vein treatments. During vein surgery, our vein doctors physically extract the diseased veins through an incision on your skin using various surgical techniques.

What happens during vein stripping?

Vein stripping is a complex surgical procedure performed under general anesthesia in a surgical facility. After identifying the diseased vein using ultrasound guidance, our vascular surgeon makes an incision to expose your unhealthy vein. After exposing the unhealthy vein, various surgical instruments are techniques are used to extract it from your body. The most popular method is to remove the diseased vein using a hook-like instrument.