Standing, pregnancy, and injuries can foster varicose veins

Although the exact cause of varicose veins is unclear, a number of factors can play a role in creating them. Family history, gender, leg injuries, pregnancy, and standing for long periods of time all seem to help create the visible or swollen veins in the legs we know as varicose veins.
Varicose veins can be treated. A procedure known as sclerotherapy can make varicose veins fade or disappear in 90% of people treated. The main treatment for both varicose and spider veins of the legs is sclerotherapy.

The treatment called sclerotherapy injects a solution into the veins

The sclerotherapy procedure uses a very thin needle to inject the veins with a special solution. This solution causes an irritation in the vein wall that results in the vein disappearing or fading out. For tiny spider veins (less than 1 mm, about the thickness of a needle), laser therapy is the next stage of treatment recommended.

An average patient requires 2 to 6 sclerotherapy treatment sessions. Each session lasts 15 to 20 minutes and about 30 to 40 veins can be treated per session. For most patients, the majority of offending veins will be treated in the first session. The same veins are re-treated at each visit until the veins clear.