Shubha Varma

During her general surgery residency and fellowship training, Dr. Varma was exposed to many different kinds of patients with many different disease processes, and she learned all of the traditional and contemporary methods of treating these patients.

During her appointment as Faculty in the Division of Vascular Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center, New York, Dr. Varma was very involved in teaching residents and medical students. She stayed on the Faculty at Columbia University for over 10 years. At this time, she was also the Chief of Vascular Surgery at Palisades Medical Center and the Director of its Vascular Laboratory. She took care of patients with arterial and venous insufficiency on a daily basis.

Dr. Varma has continued to learn newer methods of treatment so that she can offer the most sophisticated and latest of treatments to her patients. She has many years’ experience with vascular ultrasound and ultrasound-guided venous access, the very foundation used in today’s office-based procedures.

After these rewarding professional milestones, Dr. Varma is proud to now serve on the team at Center for Vein Restoration, where the physicians have rededicated their careers to bringing relief to patients coping with venous disease.

“I am a vascular surgeon by background, so I’ve always had an interest in venous insufficiency as one of the most common diseases treated in a busy vascular surgical practice. Venous insufficiency is so easily treatable and yet it often takes a back seat even in vascular surgical practices because life-threatening and limb-threatening situations always take precedence,” says Dr. Varma.

“I have found that only in a dedicated vein care practice am I able to offer the kind of care that patients with venous insufficiency deserve. Proper and complete care of these patients requires a lot of attention to detail, with a very detailed history and detailed ultrasound to begin with. It is important to rule out arterial and lymphatic diseases and other causes of leg swelling and pain. Being able to address the patients’ symptoms completely and to provide complete relief to these patients with a life free of leg tiredness, heaviness, pain, and wounds is a gratifying feeling. I moved to a vein care practice from a General Vascular Surgical Practice for two main reasons. One, I was able to provide much better vein care in a vein practice than in a general vascular practice, and second, it afforded me a better life balance in being able to manage my family needs and professional commitments to my patients.”

Her dedication to providing state-of-the-art treatments comes at an important time – an estimated 40 million Americans now suffer from vein disease. Medical practice is rapidly advancing to reduce the suffering from painful symptoms, and yet it’s still too often an underdiagnosed condition.

“Venous disease is very interesting for many reasons. A lot of venous insufficiency is still unknown. What is very interesting about venous disease is that some patients with obvious and severe venous insufficiency on a physical exam and on a ultrasound remain completely asymptomatic, and some others who may have completely normal appearing legs may have severe symptoms of pain, tiredness, heaviness, etc. Some form tortuous varicose veins, some get swelling, some ulcers, and some have just pain.“

Dr. Varma describes her personal work in the field of venous insufficiency and areas where she has a particular focus:

“One really has to be excellent at all aspects of vein care to do justice to patients with venous insufficiency, as almost all of the patients require all modalities of treatment. From ablations, phlebectomy, ultrasound-guided foam injections to visual clinical and cosmetic sclerotherapy. I’m well trained in all these modalities of vein care and can use them all well and as appropriate, for the benefit of my patients. My special interest is perhaps in the management of patients with severe venous insufficiency with venous hypertension and venous ulcers.”