Yes, Sclerotherapy has an excellent safety record.

A question I get asked a lot both by patients and healthcare professionals is “Is sclerotherapy safe? 

Sclerotherapy has been described as the “Swiss Army Knife” of vein treatments. What do I mean by this? Well nearly any vein can be treated by sclerotherapy. Any leg vein - varicose

veins, spider veins, blue veins and veins which have come back after stripping, hand veins, veins on the chest, veins on the face. 

In fact, of all the methods for treating abnormal veins such as laser, radiofrequency, medical glue - you name it anything that is called the

GOLD STANDARD - sclerotherapy is without doubt the most versatile treatment option.

So, why isn’t everyone with vein problems treated by sclerotherapy?
 
Well, there are still obstacles to the use of sclerotherapy. For healthcare professionals it requires skill and continued practice. Sclerotherapy is ‘operator-dependent”. What do I mean by this? The results of sclerotherapy

depend on the person doing it. Put simply, to get good outcomes from sclerotherapy with minimal side effects, it needs to be done by someone who is good at sclerotherapy. Seems obvious doesn’t it, but it is often forgotten, and sometimes, sclerotherapy gets a poor reputation because some practitioners are quite frankly not  very good at it.

Another obstacleis that patience is needed. The results are not immediately apparent. Sclerotherapy works by removing the delicate inner lining of veins, the endothelium and it starts a healing process.

For spider veins in particular, it may take several weeks before they fade. 

For larger veins, the results may be apparent sooner, but in all cases, the treated veins may be lumpy, tender and may look and feel worse for a few weeks before they finally improve.

So, sclerotherapy requires patience both on the part of the person who is treated and on the part of the healthcare professional- the doctor or nurse.

Safety concerns arise, because patients are naturally concerned about having medication

injected into their body and some of the complications after sclerotherapy can be very serious despite

the fact that sclerotherapy is considered by many - doctors and nurses as well as patients

to be a very minor procedure.

The evidence is that sclerotherapy is very safe. Many years ago a large French registry of over 12,000 procedures confirmed a very low rate of complications and side effects.

However, like all effective medical treatments sclerotherapy, does have side effects and complications which can be classified as either major or minor.

The minor complications include:

of sclerotherapy. Over this period, we had no serious complications.

We did have some minor complications: 

All of these minor complications were temporary and all resolved with the passage of time. 
Visual disturbance, headache and tingling are a form of migraine reaction.

So based on careful research of the medical literature and my own experience, I can confirm

that Sclerotherapy is very safe. However all of us who treat patients with sclerotherapy

are aware that patients might have allergic reactions and we must be prepared to deal

with these. 

We are also aware of the contraindications by which I mean those people and those conditions

for whom sclerotherapy should be avoided. We are also aware that people who suffer with

migraines may have an attack of migraine triggered by sclerotherapy. That is why in general,

I don't think it is appropriate for patients to drive themselves home after their first sclerotherapy session. 

My team and I are very careful to explain to patients what they can expect after sclerotherapy. In particular we tell them that sclerotherapy starts a healing process during which the veins may become lumpy and tender and that

there may be discoloration over the successfully treated veins.

For many years now, I have taken routine clinical photographs of our patients' treatment areas before, during and after their treatment sessions. Clinical photography helps our patients see the improvement and leads to better satisfaction.

Successful Sclerotherapy relies on a team approach which ensures a good outcome while

avoiding side effects and complications. Important among these are a Medicines Management policy

to avoid medication errors and a policy of preparedness for any serious complications however rare they may be.

So in summary, yes sclerotherapy is safe provided the team that is administering sclerotherapy