The search for a vein-free leg is obviously a medical impossibility, but you know what we’re getting at… So we sent an intrepid Wrinkle reporter in search of treatments to make your legs look good enough to bare in front of the world – but she didn’t quite bargain for just how investigative her report would end up!
What started as some research on behalf of the Weekly Wrinkle became a personal journey as Mark Whiteley, a top vascular surgeon, was keen to show me what his procedure would be had I come to him as a patient.
With the knowledge that Tatler had described him as “the go to guy for vein free legs” I put down my laptop and slightly surprisingly ended up as a guinea pig.
Until that moment, apart from a few small thread veins, I considered my legs to be one of the last parts of my body to worry about!
First Mr Whiteley’s charming radiologist asked me to bare my legs so she could anoint them with gel in order to give me a Duplex Ultrasound. This shows exactly what is going on under the skin surface – it was all going swimmingly until she discovered that I had a varicose vein (beneath the surface) - apparently the cause of the thread veins.
Clasping my notes I was ushered into meet Mr Whiteley. He is one of the few vascular surgeons in the country who spends the majority of his week operating on veins. He was one of the first specialists to bring pinhole surgery for varicose veins using lasers and radiofrequency to England.
Mr Whiteley quickly dispelled any fears that I might have had about the vein needing to be stripped out – apparently this is now considered to be old school!
His latest procedure involves a catheter being passed into the vein to be treated using a needle. He uses local anaesthetic and operates under ultrasound control to ensure the needle is in exactly the right place.
The maximum time the procedure takes is 1 hours and you will apparently be back to normal and even driving the next day! Its very much a winter job as you have to wear stockings for 2 -3 days after the procedure – although if sclerotherapy is needed, you have to wear bandages and stockings for 14 days. You then need one more visit to have the microsclerotherapy, which deals with the thread veins. This consists of a small injection of sclerosant (a liquid) which causes the veins to swell and flush the blood out. So if you are thinking of having it done, don’t book a beach holiday immediately after. Mr Whiteley is very keen to stress that if you are considering having your thread veins done elsewhere, it would be wise to ask for a scan so that you’re certain that there are no underlying causes like I had! There is apparently a 11% chance that your thread veins might only needmicrosclerotherapy by itself – so that could be you!
Mr Whiteley can be seen either at his rooms in Harley Street or at his clinic in Guildford. For more information follow this link: Mark Whiteley
Dare to Bare?
The search for a vein-free leg is obviously a medical impossibility, but you know what we’re getting at… So we sent an intrepid Wrinkle reporter in search of treatments to make your legs look good enough to bare in front of the world – but she didn’t quite bargain for just how investigative her report would end up!
What started as some research on behalf of the Weekly Wrinkle became a personal journey as Mark Whiteley, a top vascular surgeon, was keen to show me what his procedure would be had I come to him as a patient.
With the knowledge that Tatler had described him as “the go to guy for vein free legs” I put down my laptop and slightly surprisingly ended up as a guinea pig.
Until that moment, apart from a few small thread veins, I considered my legs to be one of the last parts of my body to worry about!
First Mr Whiteley’s charming radiologist asked me to bare my legs so she could anoint them with gel in order to give me a Duplex Ultrasound. This shows exactly what is going on under the skin surface – it was all going swimmingly until she discovered that I had a varicose vein (beneath the surface) - apparently the cause of the thread veins.
Clasping my notes I was ushered into meet Mr Whiteley. He is one of the few vascular surgeons in the country who spends the majority of his week operating on veins. He was one of the first specialists to bring pinhole surgery for varicose veins using lasers and radiofrequency to England.
Mr Whiteley quickly dispelled any fears that I might have had about the vein needing to be stripped out – apparently this is now considered to be old school!
His latest procedure involves a catheter being passed into the vein to be treated using a needle. He uses local anaesthetic and operates under ultrasound control to ensure the needle is in exactly the right place.
The maximum time the procedure takes is 1 hours and you will apparently be back to normal and even driving the next day! Its very much a winter job as you have to wear stockings for 2 -3 days after the procedure – although if sclerotherapy is needed, you have to wear bandages and stockings for 14 days. You then need one more visit to have the microsclerotherapy, which deals with the thread veins. This consists of a small injection of sclerosant (a liquid) which causes the veins to swell and flush the blood out. So if you are thinking of having it done, don’t book a beach holiday immediately after. Mr Whiteley is very keen to stress that if you are considering having your thread veins done elsewhere, it would be wise to ask for a scan so that you’re certain that there are no underlying causes like I had! There is apparently a 11% chance that your thread veins might only need microsclerotherapy by itself – so that could be you!
Mr Whiteley can be seen either at his rooms in Harley Street or at his clinic in Guildford. For more information follow this link: Mark Whiteley