I've been to two vein removal places in Dallas for sclerotherapy. Lately, the process is not working.
The area has become darker and used to really only show up during my period. Now it's there all the time. I want to know if laser might work instead. It's becoming embarrassing to show my legs and I wear shorts a lot during the year.
Please attach a photo of the 'area' to which you refer.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
My first recommendation is to have a duplex ultrasound performed to rule out reflux disease because skin changes are present. If you have telangiectatic matting, then laser treatments can help.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
You probably have a feeder vessel that needs to be treated. Sometimes these
feeder vessels are themselves connected to the deeper veins through
incompetent perforator veins that misdirect the deep vein blood to the
surface veins. If that is the case, a diagnostic Duplex ultrasound test
performed specifically to look for these sources of reflux flow would be
essential.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Pigmentation of the skin is common after vein injections but usually resolves in a few months. Not much you can do about it to speed this up but it generally resolves completely within a few months. If there are residual veins, these can be treated with the veinwave procedure as well. We have not had much success with laser of these pigmented areas and I would not recommend it.
Michael D. Ingegno, MD
Published on Jul 11, 2012
It seems that the sclerotherapy treatments have closed the veins and now you have darkened veins that may be clotted. You could also have staining from the sclerotherapy treatments. You should return to the vein treatment center for reevaluation.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
I would recommend you see a vascular trained surgeon who specializes in treating varicose and spider veins. An ultrasound examination may show slightly deeper "feeder" or perforator veins which are continuing to open these areas. These can be treated with ultrasound guidance and then the surface veins injected. You are not really a candidate for laser treatment unless there is underlying saphenous reflux. Surface laser is more for cleaning up finer veins when all of the above have been treated. Bear in mind that an average area of veins can take 3-5 treatments to get results. We also place our patients in compression hose for about a week after the treatments.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
After sclerotherapy up to 10% of treated areas can become darker. this is
almost always secondary to hyperpigmentation which often lightens or go away
slowly over time. the process of lightening takes place over one to two
years time.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
The dark discoloration may be secondary to trapped clotted blood in the sclerosed veins or to staining. If it is the former, you may benefit from aspiration of the trapped blood which will help it to clear faster. If the discoloration is related to staining, this will take months to a year to clear. Broadband light may help it clear faster, but for future sclerotherapy I would suggest a different agent that is less prone to staining but avoiding sun exposure before and after treatments. In my opinion, topical laser does not work alone, it needs to be done in combination with sclerotherapy.
Published on Jul 11, 2012