A vascular specialist is trained in treating varicose veins and artery diseases. It is imperative that your veins and arteries carry blood freely within your body. Blockages sometimes occur for a number of reasons and it’s important these are monitored or treated. Maintaining a healthy weight, doing regular exercise, not smoking and eating a healthy diet may be factors you can control.

No. While many people are referred to us by their doctors, we don’t need a referral. However, the vascular specialist will keep your doctor up to date with your treatment and progress.

Please call us on 008 45 45 88, email us at info@revascular.co.nz or complete our booking enquiry form. To speed things up complete our online consultation form.

We can usually get you in within the month. If your vascular problem is serious, we have urgent appointments available, especially for arterial conditions.

Common symptoms include aching legs at the end of the day, sore veins that may look ropey (not all varicose veins are easily visible) itching or burning. Varicose veins often run in families. Send us a photo of your varicose veins and we’ll let you know what our vascular specialist thinks.

After an ultrasound scan of your legs by one of our sonographers, our specialist can determine you have varicose veins. There are usually two parts to the treatment. First a sealant is used to seal off the feeding veins, which are deep and do not show on the skin. A thin tube is inserted in the vein, then tiny pinhead amounts of sealant are dispensed at intervals along the vein while being monitored by ultrasound. Secondly, the visible veins off this vein are sealed. This is called sclerotherapy. Sometimes, the only treatment needed is sclerotherapy.

For varicose vein treatment, the time it takes depends on whether you need both legs treated and the condition of your veins. It can be as little as 15 minutes. We say allow a good hour to cover a chat with the vascular specialist and your consent for varicose veins treatment, the actual procedure and then a short recovery period.

Our treatment for varicose veins is quick, with low-level discomfort. You will be given a small, local injection, which feels like a scratch. This is so a tube can be inserted into the vein. During the procedure most patients feel pressure when the vascular specialist seals off the vein. Some may feel a little discomfort when the tube is taken out but there is not so much as a plaster needed after. Next, there are small injections to seal off smaller veins. The procedure is quick and discomfort is minimised. Any mild aches afterward can be treated with Paracetamol or anti-inflammatories.

We recommend taking it easy for several days afterwards. You can go back to normal daily activity pretty much straight away, including work as long as you can move around during the day. But nothing too strenuous and no heavy lifting. One of our nurses will call you soon after your procedure so you can be guided by their advice.

This depends on what treatment you need, most insurers cover varicose vein treatment for medical reasons. After your consultation we’ll give you a quote.

Most insurers cover varicose vein treatment for medical reasons. It’s best to check with your insurer.

Varicose veins are ropey looking and will normally bulge out from under the skin. Spider veins, on the other hand, are much smaller and there might be patches of them or clusters. Sometimes spider veins look like star bursts. Spider veins, unlike varicose veins, won’t usually cause pain or aching. If they’re unsightly or troubling they can be successfully treated with skin laser. Go to laseraesthetics.co.nz skin laser clinic in Wellington.

Right here! We sell medical-grade compression stockings/compression socks in our online shop. The pressure at the ankle is greater than at the knee to encourage blood or fluid to flow from your legs to your heart. We often recommend class 1 grade for most because they’re strong, yet easy to put on.

We call this a varicose vein myth. Yes, you can continue putting up with varicose veins but often they can start to impede your life, ache and may lead to skin deterioration and venous leg ulcers. Like most things, we recommend the sooner you get varicose vein treatment the better the outcome.

Like many other medical treatments, there are risks associated with varicose vein treatment. Some of the more common include infection and skin discolouration over the treated varicose veins. Other less common complications include DVT (deep vein thrombosis), allergic and hypersensitivity reactions. There is a moderate risk of staining (a bruise-like skin reaction to the treated vein underneath). Our medical specialists will discuss these risks with you and when they take you through the consent form.

Please note the consent form for pelvic veins treatment is from Wakefield Hospital.

Venaseal uses a sealant that mixes with the water component of your blood to stick the walls of the treated vein together. It is in effect a type of ‘glue’. To achieve this, a small ‘dot’ of sealant is placed at about 3cm intervals along the vein via a very fine tube, while being monitored with ultrasound. Over time, the treated vein is slowly reabsorbed.

There is a very small chance (less than 1%) that your body can react to the sealant and develop a type of allergic reaction called a hypersensitivity reaction. When this occurs, there may be redness and tenderness over the treated veins for longer than usual. Treatment is with Panadol or Ibuprofen as needed until it settles, usually over several weeks.

Other allergic or sensitivity reaction may occur to the surgical drapes we use, the local anaesthetic, the skin cleaner and the silicone rubber band at the top of the thigh-length stockings. Our medical specialists will discuss these risks with you when they take you through the consent form.

Please note the consent form for pelvic veins treatment is from Wakefield Hospital.

Once varicose veins have been treated,  they typically take about 3-6 months to settle. In general, the bigger the veins at the start, the longer the healing process.

After treatment, your varicose veins will be tender and lumpy. The tenderness lasts for about 3-6 weeks and the lumpiness takes about 3-6 months to resolve.

This will depend on the number and size of your varicose veins at the start. In some patients who have a lot of varicose veins, we cannot treat all of them in the initial treatment because there is a limit to the amount of ‘vein irritant’  we can use for the vein injection part of the treatment (sclerotherapy). If you need further treatment, a small charge will apply to this. Approximately 20% of our patients require further treatments. Our nurses and medical specialist will give you an indication whether this applies to you.

In rare cases if the main surface vein treated with Venaseal reopens within the period of the treatment plan (12 months) we will re-treat it at no additional cost. As well, if additional sclerotherapy is necessary within the same period (12 months) there is no additional cost.

Note – this is different to further varicose vein injections (sclerotherapy) for varicose veins that remain after your first treatments above. As there is a limit to the volume of ‘vein irritant’ that can safely be used while performing sclerotherapy, there are some patients who require more injection treatments. If you require these additional varicose vein injections, there is a small additional cost. Our specialist nurse will explain this to you during your phone consultations, and you will be reminded on the day of your treatment while your specialist is doing your treatment consent and again by our specialist nurses before going home.

Our medical specialists will answer any questions and take you through the consent before your procedure.
After treatment it’s normal for hard lumps to appear along the treated veins, these take 3-6 months to resolve. Our medical specialists will advise if any additional treatments, like sclerotherapy are needed.

In rare cases if the Venaseal treatment of the leaking main surface veins reopens, we will re-treat the relevant main surface vein at no additional cost.

There is a small risk of hypersensitivity reaction to the sealant, sclerosants, local anaesthetic, skin cleaners, surgical drapes or silicone stocking bands. There is also a small risk of infection and a moderate risk of staining (a bruise-like skin reaction to the treated vein underneath).
It’s important to walk every hour for a few minutes to help reduce the small risk of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) and to follow the instructions of our surgeon.

Many minor surgeries are covered by medical insurance providers in New Zealand. Please check with your insurance provider.

Yes please send us photos and we will be in touch. Please email us with them. This can speed up the process and also gives us more information about your condition before we see you.

We will discuss minor surgery treatment options with you at your consultation. This also includes observation if the skin lesion is small and otherwise doesn’t cause pain, it may not need treatment and can be left alone.

We offer skin lesion removal, skin tag removal, surgical skin cancer removal, biopsies (where a tissue sample is taken and sent to a laboratory for skin cancer diagnosis), ingrown toenail removal and treatment, and cryotherapy, where we freeze skin lesions.

Your treatment may include antibiotics or topical treatments, like creams or ointments for superficial basal cell carcinomas which we will give you a prescription for.

We will advise the best treatment options at your consultation if your skin lesion is diagnosed as skin cancer. Not all skin cancers spread and early detection is key. We offer minor surgery procedures. We will advise if your skin cancer needs further treatment or therapy in a hospital setting.

We will provide instructions on whether you need to avoid eating or drinking before your treatment. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing. We also recommend not driving after our procedures. After treatment we will provide instructions on how to care for your wound or treatment site.

To book your procedure after you have had your consultation with the surgeon, please call 0800 45 45 88 or scroll to our booking form.

Our nurse will be in touch to check on your progress within a few days of your minor surgery. Our surgeon will want to see you again in xx weeks. We will provide instructions on what you can do to aid your recovery and pain management, as well as what things to avoid doing.