Nov 28, 2007 5:57 pm US/Eastern
A New Procedure To Get Rid Of Varicose Veins
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
For years, Lori Ravelli has been embarrassed by her varicose veins.
"I wouldn't wear shorts," Ravelli said. "Or I would always keep my legs covered, I wouldn't want to be at the beach in a bathing suit, because I felt very self-conscious about my veins."
And it wasn't just cosmetic, it was painful.
"They've just progressively gotten worse, and the pain...it feels like snakes are just compressing against my leg," she added.
Dr. Jose Almeida of Miami said, "It's a very common condition. In the U.S. alone, it's estimated to be between 25 and 40 million people with some form of veinous disease."
Dr. Almeida is one of the first surgeons in the country to be using a new vein-vanishing technique called "closure fast".
"Now we have a nice quick procedure done in the office, with local anesthesia. You can go to work the next day and the veins are gone in about 45 minutes to an hour."
Varicose veins are usually caused by a faulty vein, deeper inside the leg. During the procedure, a catheter is passed into that vein and then the vein is heated and instantly sealed using high-temperature radio frequency waves.
Dr. Almeida says "closure-fast" has the speed of lasers, but with less pain.
"It's a nice combination of the two catheter technologies that we had. It's quick and painless."
Lori's just hoping "closure fast" can give her the legs she can love, "normal legs without snakes."
For varicose veins, the "closure-fast" procedure is usually covered by insurance, because it's considered a medical problem. But for spider veins, it's usually not, because those are considered simply a cosmetic problem.
For more information, the office of Dr. Almedia is located at 1501 South Miami Ave., phone number (866) 782-7083.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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