How Soon After a Flight Can I Get Schlerotherapy on Lower Legs?

Sclerotherapy can be done 1 day after flying in most cases.  Usually you need 3-6 sessions at 1 month apart and at a cost of $350-450 per session.  Sincerely,

David Hansen,MD

you should certainly not have airplane travel immediately after leg vein injections but should you travel and then have the leg veins injected there should be no conflict. However, if you unfortunately develop a coincidental blood clot in your leg from the prolonged airplane travel, it may not be discovered for a week or more after your travel and then the sclerotherapy might be blamed in error.

Sclerotherapy can vary in magnitude from small spider veins to extensive treatment of larger and deeper veins using ultrasound guidance. While the former could theoretically be performed on a limited basis immediately prior or subsequent to air travel, the latter may be contra-indicated for as long as the clot is present in the deeper veins.

In our large vein practice, we recommend that patient stay very ambulatory AFTER sclerotherapy. This means that we encourage ALL activities such as walking, treadmill, elliptical and so on. We encourage exercises that stimulate the calf muscles to work, as this reduces stasis of blood. When blood moves and is actively being pumped out of the legs, the risk of deep vein clots is significantly reduced.As such, driving for longer than 2 hours at a time is discouraged. I tell patients to get out of the car and walk for 2-5 minutes every two hours if they are the driver. If they are the passenger, I encourage them to do foot exercises (like a pedal, up and down) - 30 times every half hour during the ride. I do not restrict sclerotherapy in a patient who has flown in the day before their procedure unless they took a flight longer than 6 hours or if they had an international flight. There is no data to support this but there is literature to suggest that patients can develop DVT after long flights. Of course, anyone who has driven for long periods of time or who has recently flown and has a swollen leg needs to be evaluated before sclerotherapy to rule out DVT before any cosmetic procedures are performed. If they are having ultrasound guided sclerotherapy, we scan the leg prior to sclerotherapy to make sure there is no evidence of DVT. 

I do not give any time restrictions after flying to receive sclerotherapy but  I do not recommend flying or driving over 2 hours straight for 2 weeks after sclerotherapy.