Varicose vein treatment at Spire Little Aston Hospital

At Spire Little Aston Hospital, we provide comprehensive treatments and care from our comfortable private hospital in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham city centre.

We can treat varicose veins if they’re causing pain or complications, or if you'd like to have them treated for aesthetic reasons.

You can get fast access to one of our expert consultants who’ll provide a treatment and recovery plan that’s tailored to you.

We offer a variety of treatments for varicose veins. Treatment choices available to you will depend on the type of varicose veins you have, what you’d like to achieve and your general health. Your consultant will discuss which treatment is best for you at your initial appointment.

We offer the following procedures:

• Radiofrequency ablation (eg Venefit®, also called VNUS closure) – a probe inside a catheter is inserted into the affected vein and uses radiofrequency energy to heat and seal the vein
• Hook phlebectomy or microphlebectomy – small incisions are made close to the vein and a hook-shaped instrument is used to remove the affected veins through the incisions
• Ligation and stripping – a surgical procedure to remove the veins

Every treatment has its own benefits and risks which your consultant will explain to you during your consultation.

Getting here

You can find us just to the north of Sutton Coldfield. We're a short 25 minute drive from Birmingham city centre. Birmingham New Street is the nearest mainline train station to Spire Little Aston Hospital, and Blake Street train station is the closest station to the hospital. We have free on-site parking for you and your visitors.

Your consultation

You’ll meet your chosen consultant in one of our private consultation rooms. They’ll discuss:

• The reasons why you’d like treatment
• Your medical history
• Which treatment will be best for you
• How the procedure will be performed and what anaesthetic you’ll need
• The potential benefits and risks

Your consultant may need you to have additional tests or scans before they can recommend the next steps.

You may also need a pre-operative assessment to check your fitness and overall health before the procedure.

On the day

One of our nurses and your consultant will meet you on arrival and get you prepared for your treatment. You’ll be taken to an operating theatre or a day surgery theatre.

Where you’ll be treated depends on what treatment you’re having and what kind of anaesthetic you’ll need.

The procedure will take between 30 minutes to an hour but may be longer if you’re having a lot of veins and/or both legs treated.

Anaesthetic

The anaesthetic required varies depending on the procedure you’re having and your overall health. Most procedures are performed using local anaesthetic (so the area being treated will be numb). However, sometimes it may be necessary to have a general anaesthetic, for instance it’s often needed for ligation and stripping which is a surgical procedure for treating varicose veins.

If you do need a general anaesthetic, the time spent in the operating department will increase to around 1.5 hours to allow time for you to recover from the anaesthetic safely, before being returned to the ward.

After treatment

Usually, you can go home a few hours after your procedure. You’ll be taken to relax in a private room on our ward before going home when you’re ready.

However, you may require an overnight stay, particularly if you’ve had a general anaesthetic. If so, you’ll have your own, en-suite room which will have:

• TV
• En-suite
• Window
• Armchair
• Telephone
• Patient information booklet

After you leave hospital, you may need to take some time off work while you recover. However, most people can carry on with their normal routine without any problems. Your consultant will advise you on what’s best, including whether you should wear compression stockings and for how long.

We’ll arrange a follow-up appointment a few weeks after your procedure to check that you're recovering as expected and assess how the treatment went.

Here’s a typical recovery timeline, although you should always follow your consultant’s advice and bear in mind that everybody is different: