Thread veins consultation process
At UK Veincentre (UKVC) there are five simple steps to obtaining a diagnosis and treatment plan for your thread veins:
1. Discussion
Your consultant will begin by asking you questions regarding your current vein problems and why you’ve decided to seek treatment.
If you’ve had previous treatment on your thread veins your consultant will ask you about what treatment you had and how successful it was. This includes if your thread veins initially disappeared but then returned, which could indicate underlying venous insufficiency.
A full past medical history will be taken and your consultant will ask you about any health conditions and allergies, which could affect your treatment options.
2. Scan
Your consultant will then perform a colour duplex ultrasound scan on your legs (from your feet up to your groin). This scan will rule out whether there is an underlying cause for your thread veins before commencing any treatment.
The scan is similar to the kind of ultrasound scan performed on pregnant women, to assess the health and growth of a baby, but it is performed on your legs and is undertaken with you standing up.
If you only have thread veins, it is rare that you will have an underlying cause. However, if the scan reveals an underlying cause for your thread veins, such as venous insufficiency, we will recommend that we treat this first.
If we were to treat only the visible thread veins when you have underlying venous insufficiency, it is more likely that the treatment would fail or that the thread veins will come back. There may be short term success, but the thread veins are highly likely to recur.
3. Tailored treatment plan
Firstly, the scan results will be explained to you. The consultant will then advise what treatment they think will achieve the best results – including the benefits and the risks.
For thread veins, the most likely treatment option is microsclerotherapy. If your veins are slightly larger it will be foam sclerotherapy. If you have thread veins on the face it will be thermocoagulation.
It is important that any treatment plan is tailored to you, so your consultant will take your desired outcomes and treatment preferences into consideration.
4. Treatment costs
Our treatment prices for thread veins are upfront and fixed per treatment session, so they will not escalate from what you can see on our self-funded pricing page.
Your consultant will discuss the prices for the treatment plan you require (including if you are likely to need more than one treatment session). Your quote for treatment will be confirmed in writing alongside your consultation report.
This quotation and report should also be sufficient for your insurance provider if you are seeking to have treatment under your health insurance. However, please note that medical insurance rarely funds thread vein treatment, as insurers class thread veins as a cosmetic issue. That said, insurers should fund a consultation to rule out a medical cause for your problems, especially if you’re suffering with symptoms.
5. Further queries & booking
The results of the consultation and scan are valid for six months from the date of your initial appointment. There is no pressure to rush and book in for treatment, allowing you to book at a time which suits you.
If you decide to delay treatment, you will require a repeat scan prior to commencing treatment (to ensure nothing has changed since the last scan), however, this repeat scan is included in the treatment cost unless you attend over a year since your initial consultation.
If you wish to book, our clinic team will be able to help or you can contact us at a later date. Our team is also happy to answer any further questions you may have or to clarify anything in the consultation report or treatment quote.
