Spider veins on legs resistant to treatment

This patient with Spider Veins on legs was referred to The Whiteley Clinic for a second opinion. She had undergone stripping surgery a long time ago. She had visited a “specialist” in sclerotherapy and had travelled to a clinic in London for spider vein treatment on her legs.

She hated the spider veins on her legs. The patient had visited a “specialist” in sclerotherapy and had undergone 4 treatments. She had not been offered a venous duplex scan of her veins before treatment.

Spider veins on legs and matting resistant to treatment – Should have had a duplex scan

The spider veins initially appeared to get better, but then worsened and eventually became red “stains”. This is called “telangiectatic matting” and is typical of when someone has tried to treat spider veins on the legs, without treating the underlying cause first.

Spider veins or left leg and matting resistant to treatment – Should have had a duplex scan as she has underlying hidden varicose veins

There were no obvious varicose veins on standing. One aesthetic practitioner had previously done a simple “Doppler” test and said there were no underlying hidden varicose veins (called “venous reflux”).

Venous Duplex Ultrasound Shoes Hidden Varicose Veins:

Upset with her previous treatment, she came to The Whiteley Clinic for a second opinion.

Our specialist vascular technologists are trained in The Whiteley Protocol^® by our own trainers. They use the highest quality duplex ultrasound scanners and specialise in venous duplex ultrasound. We do not have doctors doing their own scans. Research presented in New York has shown doctors doing their own scans miss up to 30% of the problem veins. Indeed, NICE recommends that vein specialists work in teams to get diagnosis and treatment and not by themselves (see guidelines: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg168/chapter/1-recommendations#ftn.footnote_3).

Hidden Varicose Veins causing Spider Veins – Patient should have had duplex ultrasound scan before spider vein treatment

The scan showed that even although the patient showed no varicose veins on standing, she actually had multiple underlying “hidden varicose veins” causing her spider veins.

She had wasted all of the time and money that she had previously spent on trying to get rid of her spider veins as she had not had these diagnosed and treated before starting her spider vein treatment.

The Whiteley Protocol^® For Spider Veins on Legs

Everyone attending The Whiteley Clinic with spider veins has a full venous duplex ultrasound performed by a The Whiteley Clinic trained vascular technologist. 89% of patient have underlying “hidden varicose veins” – and when we find them we can offer the best treatment available by following The Whiteley Protocol^® (see reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8408913).

In this way, we can keep our recurrence rates to the lowest possible and our patient satisfaction to the very high levels that we consistently achieve (see: https://thewhiteleyclinic.co.uk/why-choose-us/patient-satisfaction/), even with spider veins on legs.