Why do varicose veins come back after surgery?

We have had a lot of questions, from all around the world, asking why varicose veins keep coming back again after surgery.

The reality is that varicose veins shouldn’t come back after proper treatment. It is possible that you can get new veins growing, but that is only a 3% possibility per year. When veins do come back, again and again after treatment, it is usually because the doctor is not a vein expert. Even though they may perform many veins procedures they may not understand all the places varicose veins can come from. Sometimes they don’t realise that, in ladies, they come from the pelvis and sometimes they don’t treat perforators. Many insurance companies and a lot of doctors themselves won’t treat incompetent perforators.

Here at The Whiteley Clinic, we have shown that this is a major cause of veins coming back again in the future. Sometimes, not only are varicose veins missed by people who run vein units, but also sometimes the techniques they use, such as stripping don’t work or they use the right techniques but maybe with the wrong procedures. Even the best lasers, glues or new techniques, that close the varicose veins permanently in good hands, very occasionally fail to work properly if the doctor isn’t experienced and they actually use them incorrectly.

So really, the basic facts are, if you are seeing a venous expert you really shouldn’t get your varicose veins back again, except for the very, very small 3% risk developing new veins every year.

This is covered in more detail in Professor Whiteley’s latest book, coming out soon.