Varicose veins are swollen, twisted, and if you have them, you know they can be painful.

More than 25 million Americans suffer with varicose veins, and getting rid of them used to mean vein stripping, time in the hospital and weeks of recovery.

However, there is a new laser procedure that could give you a leg up on veins and put you right back on your feet.

62-year old Judith Lindzy of South Bend is a small business owner and can't afford to be off her feet.

“I've had tremendous discomfort in my legs, varicose veins for years. My legs would swell. I had an aching, tired, heavy feeling in my legs,” Judith says.

That's why four weeks after having a laser procedure to get rid of varicose veins in one leg, she's back at the Legacy Vein Clinic to have her other leg done.

Dr. Michael Lulenski says Judith's veins are minimal but the
Clinic has done endovenous laser treatment on more than 2,000 legs and the before and after pictures show what a stunning difference the laser treatment makes.

Judith got a little Valium to relax her and then the procedure gets underway. Dr. Lulenski uses ultrasound to guide him.

“The round black dot you see there in the middle of the screen, that's actually what's called the greater saphenous vein and that's the vein causing all the problems,” says Dr. Lulenski.

These problems include pain and bulging caused by a backward flow of blood due to failed valves.

“What we're going to do is make a little knick about two to three millimeters in length. The first thing we are going to do is numb up the skin so the patient is going to feel a little tiny needle stick here,” says Dr. Lulenski.

Then a small sheath is put in to guide the laser into the right spot and Lidocaine is injected.

“This is actually the most important part of the procedure - surrounding the vein with Lidocaine for comfort and collapse the vein around the catheter,” says Dr. Lulenski.

Now it's time for the laser.

“You can see the laser light underneath the skin and what this is doing is damaging the lining of the vein and causes the vein to collapse on itself,” says Dr. Lulenski.

Over time that bulging, painful vein will become a thin thread of scar tissue.

Having ablated the saphenous vein, all that's left to do is remove the bulging veins.

“That requires numbing the skin up over the varicose veins, making tiny incisions that do not require stitches,” says Dr. Lulenski.

Judith gets compression socks she'll wear for two weeks, but other than that, she's back on her feet.

She and the doctor say there's no comparison to the traditional stripping procedure.

“The old surgical procedure required general anesthetic, often times done in the operating room, had large incisions, numerous stitches,” says Dr. Lulenski.

And while Judith will have to elevate her feet off and on for a couple of days, she was back on her feet in less than an hour.

“This was absolutely painless,” she says.

The laser vein treatment is covered by insurance, since the varicose veins stem from a medical condition.

Dr. Lulenski says the cosmetic improvement is just a bonus.

For more information contact:
Michael E. Lulenski, M.D.
Legacy Vein Clinic
3550 Park Place West
Mishawaka, IN 46565
574-272-LEGS (5347)

Or visit their website, by clicking here.