If you’ve been plagued by spider veins, varicose veins, or other vein problems for some time, you should do something about them before things get more serious. The more time you spend thinking about your veins instead of treating them, the greater your chance of developing complications such as deep vein thrombosis, which can be life-threatening.
Whether you’re experiencing pain from bulging veins, or they are just generally unsightly, it’s important to find an experienced vein specialist whom you can trust. Having a qualified, capable, and knowledgeable venous disease specialist is essential to improving your vein health. For this reason, we’ve put together five of the most important questions to ask your vein doctor prior to treatment.
1. What Are Your Certifications?
You need to make sure your vein doctor’s credentials are legitimate. All too often, badly trained or unqualified doctors have been able to enter this field unnoticed because too many people don’t do their homework when choosing a vein doctor. You should check for the following when making your selection:
- Have they met continuing Medical Education (MCE) requirements?
- Has he or she completed the requisite training?
- Do they have a passing score on the certification exam?
- Are they a member of the American College of Phlebotomy and/or certified by the American College of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine?
2. What Is Your Office’s Success Rate?
It always helps to know how many times the office has successfully performed the treatments you’re considering. The more experience the clinic has with different treatments, the more they will know about possible complications and how to deal with them successfully. You want an office that knows every angle and possible outcome of the range treatment that you may undergo.
3. How Often Have You Completed the Vein Treatment I Need?
When you meet with a vein specialist initially, he or she will figure out the best course of treatment for your vein problem. Once you’ve agreed upon the type of care you need, you should check with the doctor to find out how often he or she has carried out that specific type of vein treatment.
If the doctor doesn’t have much experience with your recommended treatment, then you should probably start looking for another doctor. The more experience that he or she has with the procedure, the higher your chances of success. This is because doctors with more treatments under their belt are well-equipped to handle any difficulties or challenges that may occur. It makes a difference to have a doctor who is confident about your chances of success because he or she has the experience to back it up.
4. What are the Different Venous Treatment Options?
During the initial meeting, your vein specialist will present your treatments options after they’ve observed the condition of your veins. If your issues are more common like spider or varicose veins, your doctor will most likely suggest a minimally invasive treatment. Some of the most common treatments for vein issues include Sclerotherapy, Radiofrequency ablation, Endovenous laser ablation, Phlebectomy, and other treatments like compression stockings.
The advantages of these common treatments are that they don’t require any hospitalization and their outpatient procedure time rarely runs longer than an hour. Moreover, they also involve minimal recovery time. Your vein doctor can fill you in on the advantages as well as the potential risks for each treatment, so you know what you’re getting into.
5. Will I Have Pain or Any Side Effects?
The answer to this question will depend on the extent of your vein problem and the suggested treatment. Nevertheless, your chances are pretty good that any pain or side effects from these types of treatments will be minimal.
Advanced technology with treating venous diseases has made procedures much simpler and easier to recover from. Patients no longer have to face hospital stays or stay bedridden for weeks after treatment. Due to the developments in laser technology, most patients can return to normal activity with almost no downtime. Problems with these procedures are rare, especially considering how common the aforementioned treatments are.
Asking these questions of your doctor before you begin your vein treatment will put you in the best possible position to get the treatment you need from a professional you can trust to do the job right.
