Veins Online

Welcome to veins-online.co.uk – the online resource
to help you find a specialist vein surgeon in your area.

• Varicose veins are a common problem. Up to 30% of the population may develop varicose veins during their lifetime and seek surgical treatment for them.
• In recent years several new treatments for varicose veins have been developed. Generally speaking these new techniques are a major improvement on more traditional surgical approaches. However, some of the new techniques are tricky to learn and not all surgeons have taken the time needed to master new methods.
• For the patient this can make finding a suitable varicose veins specialist quite confusing. Our website aims to help you with this problem and make it a simple process. There are no flashy graphics or distracting pop ups!

There are two main areas on veins-online.co.uk:

1. Information pages where you will find up to date information on the latest techniques in varicose veins surgery including answers to commonly asked questions. You can navigate these pages via the links along the top of the website. The information is written by consultant vascular surgeons with particular experience in the latest treatments for varicose veins. You can navigate these pages via the links at the top.

2. Find a veins surgeon: By entering your town, or postcode into the search box below you will be able to search a database containing the details of varicose veins surgeons across the United Kingdom to find someone in your area with a particular interest in treating varicose veins. There are also entries of cosmetic clinics which will be able to treat thread veins and spider veins.

The search facility is also available in the left hand column of all pages, or you can click on your region to find all consultants and clinics in that area who have registered with Veins-Online.

We hope you find this website useful – any comments or questions can be posted directly to us via the contact link.

What are varicose veins?

• Varicose veins are bulging veins on the legs. They are caused by a failure of a valve somewhere in the vein system of the legs. This causes the veins just under the skin to swell and become visible, usually as blue bulging veins.
• The place that the varicose veins are visible on the leg is not necessarily the location of the leaky valve – for example the commonest place for varicose veins to be seen non the leg is in the calf area, but the commonest place for the valve to be leaky is up at the groin area where the veins that drain the skin join the deep vein of the leg.
• Varicose veins are a very common problem – they affect about a third of the UK population at some time in their lives. The symptoms they cause can range from unsightly thread or spider veins, through larger varicose veins that can ache and eventually very large varicose veins that can result in venous ulcers in some people.

Typical Varicose Veins  

What type of people get varicose veins?

Anyone! Generally speaking as we get older the veins become more prominent, partly because varicose veins get worse with time. However, veins can trouble people in their twenties as well as the older generation. They are more visible in people with pale skin although people with dark skin get varicose veins just as frequently – they just aren’t so obvious.  

Why do people want treatment for veins?

 Because of the symptoms that varicose veins can cause:

• Cosmetic symptoms: Often people are reluctant to wear shorts or skirts or visit the swimming pool because they feel self conscious about the appearance of their legs.
• Discomfort: Varicose veins can frequently ache, especially towards the end of the day. Swelling of the ankles is quite common.
• Inflammation and bleeding: Sometimes veins can become inflamed and become very sore. This is called ‘Phlebitis’. On rare occasions some varicose veins can bleed and although this almost never a life threatening problem it is certainly very frightening if it happens.
• Skin change and venous ulcers: In bad cases people with varicose veins for a long time can get damage to the skin. This usually occurs at the ankle area. The skin becomes dry and discoloured and in really bad cases can become an ulcer which is a nasty sore that does not heal.

A VENOUS ULCER CAUSED BY LONGSTANDING VARICOSE VEINS

What sort of treatments are available for varicose veins?

These can be divided into treatment requiring an operation (‘surgical’) or non surgical treatments.

 Non – Surgical:

• The only good non surgical treatment for varicose veins is the use of compression stockings. These need to be measured correctly for each person and be of good quality to give the right level of compression.
• There are different levels of compression depending on the effect desired. Stockings need to be changed every 3 to 6 months as they lose their elasticity and become useless.
• Compression stockings need to be worn all the time during the day and taken off at night. They can be quite difficult to get on in the morning and are fairly tight during the day. Generally a below knee stocking is all that is required.
• Active people often find that wearing compression stockings long term is quite difficult. Generally speaking compression stockings are only really suitable in the long term for patients who can’t have vein surgery because their veins are not suitable surgery or in people who are too ill to have surgery for other reasons.
• Compression stockings are very useful for patients after surgery where we use them to reduce the post-operative discomfort. A properly fitted pair from a good quality supplier is important in order to get the most benefit – ill fitting or low quality stockings often slip down the leg or fail to provide the adequate level of compression to work properly.  

Surgical:

• Recent surgical improvements of varicose veins have reduced the need to make large incisions in the legs and reduced the need to ‘strip’ large amounts of veins out of the legs. This has reduced the post-operative pain and discomfort to a large extent and reduced the time that patients need to take off work after operations.
• Some of these techniques can be performed under local anaesthetic (like going to the dentist) rather than by general anaesthetic (where the patient is ‘put to sleep’ for the operation)
• The minimally invasive techniques are not suitable for every patient and it is important that each patient is assessed by a competent, qualified and experienced vascular surgeon to decide on the best operation.

Information on surgery for varicose veins can be found on the following pages that can be navigated by clicking on the links at the top of the website.