Varicose veins before and after

Varicose veins before and after pictures – a case of primary varicose veins.

This lady came to see us with what appeared to be fairly “simple” varicose veins. She had large varicose veins in her left lower leg. These ached on standing and were very tense when touched. Because she has varicose veins and discomfort, NICE clinical guidelines CG 168 state that she needs to have referral to a vascular service (such as The Whiteley Clinic).

varicose veins before and after endovenous laser Whiteley Protocol

These guidelines state that the service should be a team of experts in veins. It does not recommend a single doctor doing their own scan, where the risks of missing an important cause of varicose veins is higher.

It also states that the vascular service should have for methods of treating veins available. Not only does The Whiteley Clinic have all techniques available, it actively researches which ones are best for which veins unlike almost any other clinic or hospital in the UK.

This lady came to The Whiteley Clinic and, following NICE guidelines, underwent a duplex ultrasound scan performed by a specialist vascular scientist.

This scan showed a massive great saphenous vein that had lost its valves and hence was incompetent.

This lady underwent The Whiteley Protocol under local anaesthetic and, you can see that after only six weeks, the leg is very much improved.

The healing will continue over the next few months. Because she went The Whiteley Protocol, she has the lowest chance of ever getting varicose veins back again. Our audits stretching back 15 years show that patients treated at The Whiteley Clinic have the lowest possible risk of recurrence in the future.

Buy cheap, buy twice

Just like many areas in life, it is now possible to get varicose vein treatments very cheaply. In medicine when something is cheap, it is often because corners are being cut. Most cheap services have a single doctor doing their own scan to save money. Unfortunately research shows that they also miss the underlying causes of varicose veins in approximately 30% of cases (research presented at Veith 2014 – New York).

In particular cheap vein services rarely look for incompetent perforating veins or pelvic veins which have been shown to be the cause of leg varicose veins and a high proportion of patients.

We are always happy to see patients who have had previous cheap surgery and have ended up getting or their veins back again. However it is much easier, and cheaper in the long term, to get the job done properly in the first place.

The Whiteley Clinic will continue to audit and publish its results to prove the lower recurrence rates continue by using The Whiteley Protocol.