Varicose veins are cause by incompetent valves inside the veins itself resulting in twisting and enlargement. Usually associated with legs they can occur anywhere on the body. The valves in the vein aid blood return to your heart along with the surrounding muscles. So if the valve is faulty there is a "backlog" of blood causing the vein to enlarge more.
This leads to swelling, eczema due to the varicose veins, skin thickening around the area and possibly lead to ulceration.
There are many treatments one can take.
Non-invasive treatments starting from the simplest is to avoid prolong standing, compression stockings and leg elevation.
Alternatively lasers and RF (radiofrequency) can also help improve and remove these unsightly veins.
Minimally-invasive treatments include sclerotherapy - injection of sclerosant. This works by sclerosing agent shrinking the vein, then it dissolves over a period of time with the body absorbing the treated vein. Downtime is minimal and treatment time is minimal. Also it is the most cost effective however this generally works with smaller varicose veins or spider veins.
If you would like to know more about these method please don't hesitate to contact me.
For surgical treatments this involves "stripping" of the vein and is perform under GA. Indications and suitability I would advise you to contact a vascular surgeon for this.
I hope this answers your question.
