First, we recommend a consultation with our aestheticians prior to your treatment. This can be accomplished on the day of your treatment, but our preference is to make this a separate appointment to ensure you are informed of all of the do’s and don’ts in preparing for your procedure. If you already have compression stockings, please bring these to your appointment so we can assure they are the correct stocking for this procedure.

For 24 hours before the procedure, avoid shaving or applying any lotion to your legs. Wear loose, comfortable clothing to your appointment. You might even consider wearing a pair of shorts so that your legs are exposed.

For the procedure, you’ll lie on your back with your legs slightly elevated. After cleansing the area to be treated with alcohol, your practitioner will use a fine needle to slowly inject the sclerosing solution into the appropriate vein. The solution works by irritating the lining of the vein, causing it to close and block the flow of blood.

Sclerotherapy involves injecting a solution (called a sclerosing agent) directly into the vein. The sclerotherapy solution causes the vein to scar, forcing blood to reroute through healthier veins. The collapsed vein is reabsorbed into local tissue and eventually fades.

Some people experience minor stinging (comparable to a bee sting) when the sclerosing agent is injected into the vein. A compression dressing will be applied to each area treated.

The number of injections depends on the number and size of veins being treated. Depending on the extent of spider veins, we may not be able to treat all of the veins (or both legs) in one session.

We encourage you to walk around immediately after the procedure to prevent the formation of blood clots. You will put on your compression stockings immediately after the procedure. The compression stockings should be worn for the next two week to maintain the compression of the treated veins.

You may return to normal activities the same day, however, we recommend you avoid strenuous exercise for two weeks after the procedure and avoid sun exposure to the treated areas during that time to prevent hyperpigmentation.

Expect to see results in three to six weeks. Veins that respond to treatment generally don’t come back, but new veins may appear. We will schedule a follow-up visit for your Sclerotherapy in Cincinnati one month after the procedure to decide if further treatments are needed.