Venous Ablations

What are venous ablations?

Venous ablations are treatments that could benefit you if you have painful or unsightly varicose veins.

These veins typically affect the legs, although they can appear elsewhere. They look like twisted blue or purple ropes that stand out from your skin. 

They can become sore and make your legs ache. Without timely treatment, varicose veins can lead to leg pain and serious problems like venous ulcers.

Venous ablations are advanced techniques that use minimally invasive methods to treat varicose veins. The Cardiology Specialists of Orange County team offers radiofrequency venous ablation as well as mechanochemical endovenous ablation (MOCA).

They also use non-catheter-based endovenous ablation in the form of ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy.

What is catheter-based venous ablation?

Catheter-based venous ablations use a slim tube that fits through a small incision in your leg and passes up the vein. With radiofrequency ablation, your provider at Cardiology Specialists of Orange County then activates pulses of radio wave energy that heat the vein, resulting in the walls collapsing.

Mechanochemical endovenous ablation (MOCA) is a similar procedure but doesn't use heat to collapse the vein. Instead, your provider inserts a special rotating catheter into the diseased vein, then injects a drug called a sclerosant that closes the vein down.

A non-catheter based form of endovenous ablation such as ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy doesn't require the catheter tube. Instead, your provider at Cardiology Specialists of Orange County uses ultrasound imaging to guide the placement of a sclerosant foam injection into the vein.

What happens after my venous ablation treatment?

After treating the varicose veins using the most appropriate venous ablation technique for your condition, your provider gives you simple but specific instructions to care for your legs while they heal.

You'll need to wear compression stockings for a week or so to support the veins and refrain from strenuous exercise. Blood that would normally go through the ablated veins takes a different route, and over time, your body absorbs the treated veins, so they eventually disappear.

Your circulation improves as there's no more pooling of blood in the veins, so your legs are both healthier and more attractive. However, it's still possible for new varicose veins to develop in the future, so it's important to take care of your legs following venous ablation.

Find out how you can benefit from venous ablation for varicose veins. Call Cardiology Specialists of Orange County or book an appointment online today.