How Soon Should I See Results After Sclerotherapy?

Sclerotherapy is more effective than laser treatments. Generally, it can take 2-3 treatments about a month apart for best results, but patients often see a big improvement after the first treatment. Solutions like Asclera make the procedure very well tolerated and virtually painless.

Laser and dermatologic surgeons have been trying to develop lasers to treat leg veins for over 25 years. Lasers sound scientific and sexy but they have never and will never replace or improve upon the results of properly performed sclerotherapy. Yes, sclerotherapy uses a needle and injects a medicine into the vein. But the newer FDA-approved solutions like Sotradecol™ and Asclera™ are virtually painless and the needles used at the size of a hair. Lasers are VERY expensive and... more

Improvement from sclerotherapy may be as soon as 1-2 months after treatment, but it may take longer even up to 6 months or more. Most experts in treatment of varicose venuels, spider veins and other unwanted thigh and leg vessels generally agree that sclerotherapy (injection of the veins with a solution that causes the vessel walls to be become irritated and ultimately stick together not allowing blood to pass through them) is the superior technique. They agree that laser treatment... more

In my practice it typically takes between 3-5 sessions to see results. compression stockings are important in the post operative period to help collapse the veins.

I believe that sclerotherapy is still the gold standard for treatment of leg veins. In my office, we use lasers to treat smaller facial veins. Treated veins take on a darker color after treatment which fades very slowly over several months so it's hard to see the improvement at first. Even after a few months there may still be "shadows" in the skin outlining the treated veins that continue to fade and may take 6 months to a year to fully resolve.

Despite the advent of lasers, sclerotherapy, or the injection of a sclerosing solution to close off unwanted and superfluous spider veins on the legs, is still considered the method of choice. The appearance of one new laser after another, each one supposedly superceding the previous type, is implicit testimony to the fact that laser technology in this (as in many other skin treatment) has hardly been perfected yet On the other hand, sclerotherapy has stood the test of time, with... more

Usually it takes about 3-4 weeks after the treatment to see the results. It is recommended to wear compression stockings immediately after the sclerotherapy and continue for at least 3 weeks. During the follow up visit the physician will suggest if additional injections are necessary. Some patient choose to have the sclerotherapy done during the fall and winter months only because of the necessity to wear the compression stockings.

When practiced my an experienced physician sclerotherapy is superior. This is a very technique dependent process with a fairly steep learning curve to do it well. In sclerotherapy the needle is injected into the appropriate sites and the sclerosant is injected. It travels into the intended vessels, irritates them and then gradually the body gets rid of them. This process takes weeks; usually about a month, and sometimes two months. This is why we advise our sclero patients to come in... more