New Laser Procedure Cleans Up Varicose Veins

There are several ways to treat varicose veins and one of them is gaining popularity in the Triangle.

Lynn Berkes said her varicose veins left her in pain most of the time.

"When anyone comes near you, you just think you want to cry," Berkes recalled.

She had surgery to get rid of her varicose veins at the

Vein Help

clinic. Her doctors used a new procedure called the EndoVenous Laser.

During the procedure, a thin laser catheter is inserted into the vein. The catheter delivers heat energy to the vein and it glows a red color. The heat energy shrinks the vein and seals it shut so doctors can remove it.

Dr. John Mauriello of the Vein Help clinic said for smaller veins he numbs the skin and removes the vein through a small incision.

Mauriello said most of his patients cannot believe the results.

"When she takes this bandage off in three days, she will look down and she will think someone else's leg is attached to her body,"he said.

Berkes said that is the reaction she had.

"It is all gone. There is nothing there!" she said.

In her opinion, getting rid of her varicose veins has been a life changing experience.

"I feel so good. I can walk, I'm not in any pain, I can do things I perhaps couldn't do before," Berkes said.

The EndoVenous Laser procedure is performed on an outpatient basis. Doctors recommend patients start walking the same day of the surgery, to improve blood flow and prevent the condition from coming back.