Saline isn’t working! Is there anything else that works for my spider veins?
First of all we are talking about Sclerotherapy- injecting veins in order to close them and make them disappear. It is the best way to get rid of spider veins. I have seen too often purple veins lasered and not only have they not disappeared but they have taken pigment with it- permanently. Don’t get me wrong, laser works for very faint veins (red in color) but if they have dilated to purple it has gone too far. Even more advanced is the presence of a green feeder vein around a patch of purple veins. Those cannot be closed with Saline.
The FDA approved drug for varicose veins is sodium tetradecylsufate (STS). Not everyone can use it or is trained in it. It is not something a nurse can learn in a weekend seminar. I trained for 6 weeks in Baltimore, went back to my clinic, and it took me a year to understand how to really do it. Some even say it is an ‘art’ form. Knowing what to close and what not to close definitely takes experience. But it really takes the right medication or all that sticking and poking is for nothing. By the way, the needle is so tiny you will talk through the whole procedure and it flies by. Even needle-phobes have been able to get through it. Shocker! But yes!
The injections may itch a little afterward but it goes away quickly. There are no cotton balls or saran wrap. Oh and the biggest thing- STS doesn’t burn like saline. That is the best thing I hear from people who had saline injections.
Who is using STS? The leaders in the industry for treatment of varicose veins are using STS, whether they are the size of your thumb or a tiny pen mark, there is nothing better.
But keep in mind what Dr. Richard Tholen of Minneapolis said: “No matter what sclerosant is used (hypertonic saline, sodium tetradecyl sulfate, polidocenol, …) it needs to get inside the spider vein to do its work! The smaller the spider vein, the harder it is to hit properly. Sclerotherapy, as you have found out, is highly operator-dependent….” “I can still unequivocally state that skillfully-performed sclerotherapy remains the “gold standard” for treatment of spider veins.”
