Sclerotherapy is a fairly new method that is used to treat spider and varicose veins, and it may trump traditional sclerotherapy.
This new technique makes use of detergent sclerosants ( a special solution) but instead of being injected directly into the vein, it is mixed with a foam.
Various oils, fatty acids and detergents in the body all come together and affect the surface of the cell membrane. When this happens the surface of the skin will lose proteins; this is called apoptosis.
When foam is used, it is much more effective that the regular liquid solution. The reason behind this that the surface area of these structures will be affected more by the foam.
The use of foam sclerotherapy has altered how the procedure is done. Because it is so effective, foam sclerotherapy is replacing other methods used by doctors.
The reason for this is that it works so well and it is easier on the patients, compared to surgery.
Studies conducted showed that patients who had varying types of varicosities were treated over a period of 6 weeks. The majority of them who were treated for larger veins showed a normal flow of blood or was completely eliminated.
There were excellent results for people who had minor varicosities. It should be noted that these people all suffered from bouts of hyperpigmentation.
The results gained from the study to show foam sclerotherapy benefits are not conclusive and it is more than few years to truly know the results. When the treatment is done, nearly all the patients report that their veins disappear.
With foam sclerotherapy, it takes about one or two appointments to treat a vein, compared to the 5 or 6 that is often done with the regular method. The reason for this is that the foam sclerosant agent is in contact with the wall of the vein for a much longer period of time.
The downside to using this technique is that it is very difficult to expel the foam from a syringe. This provides a challenge when treating very small and thin veins.