Can I Use Botox to Get Rid of Varicose Veins?
Botox can accomplish a lot cosmetically. Eliminating varicose veins isn’t one of them.
Many people turn to therapies circulating on the internet to find a cure for painful, unsightly varicose veins that are too good to be true. One unproven remedy involves using Botox to get rid of varicose veins. In reality, it’s just another myth regarding varicose vein treatment.
While Botox is approved for other medical and cosmetic uses, it cannot eliminate varicose veins. Only treatment by a certified vein specialist can accomplish that. Let’s dig deeper into how this so-called “cure” rumor got its start and the proven solutions you can seek instead.
What Botox can and can’t do
Botox is a neurotoxin agent that relaxes muscles. Because of that quality, it can smooth out fine lines and wrinkles when injected into the skin. People with overactive sweat glands may also benefit from Botox injections.
Like fine lines and wrinkles, twisting, protruding varicose veins are also visible on the skin’s surface. Therefore, varicose veins may seem a good candidate for Botox treatment. However, the underlying cause of varicose veins goes much deeper than the skin’s surface.
Tiny valves inside your leg veins push blood to the heart. When those valves lose strength, blood pools within the veins. The most apparent symptom of varicose veins is excessive swelling of the vein. Varicose veins can also lead to pain, itching, cramping, uncontrolled nighttime leg movements, and heaviness. Botox does not affect those malfunctioning veins. But proven medical treatments can treat the diseased vein and make your legs smooth again.
Varicose vein treatments that work
Proven varicose vein treatments target the troublesome vein, allowing blood to flow to healthier veins. Minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as injections, sclerotherapy, and ablation techniques, are quick, nearly painless, and done in a brief office visit. You’ll be back to your routine soon after with few restrictions. Center for Vein Restoration (CVR) offers these treatment methods:
Sclerotherapy. Mainly used to treat spider veins and smaller varicose veins, sclerotherapy involves clearing the vein by injecting a safe, saline-based solution. The solution irritates the vein wall, so it eventually seals shut.
Radiofrequency ablation. A vein specialist inserts a catheter into the vein, which emits radiofrequency waves to destroy the vein.
Laser ablation. Laser ablation works similarly to radiofrequency ablation, except the heat comes from a laser on the tip of the catheter.
Ambulatory phlebectomy. During ambulatory phlebectomy, the clogged, swollen vein is removed via two tiny incisions.
VenaSeal. A newer innovation in vein care, VenaSeal involves using a medically safe adhesive to close the vein.
ClariVein. During ClariVein, the doctor uses a mechanochemical ablation device and a sclerosing agent to collapse the vein.
Unlike Botox, these treatments are all FDA-approved and have been used for decades to eliminate varicose veins successfully. Instead of pursuing so-called “cures” for varicose veins that may only lead to further complications such as skin sores and potentially blood clots, choose an office-based procedure that effectively eliminates varicose veins by targeting the root cause.
Your full-service vein care center in the Granite State
CVR operates two full-service vein treatment facilities in Salem, New Hampshire, and Nashua, New Hampshire. Each is led by Normand Miller, MD, FACS, RPVI, RVT, an experienced board-certified vascular surgeon specializing in vascular disease and venous insufficiency. Dr. Miller is an expert in all treatment options and can recommend the one right for you!
Visit us to learn more, or schedule an appointment online today!
410 Amherst Street, Suite 200
Nashua, NH 03063
224 Main Street, Suite 1-D
Salem, NH 03079
