Rachel's Journey with Varicose Veins

• Age 38, Former Retail Worker in London.

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• Symptoms: Heaviness, Soreness and Throbbing

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• Being on her feet all day caused them to become more painful, in the summer she covered herself up, embarrassed by her prominent veins.

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• Received Radiofrequancy Ablation treatment from Michael Dialynas, a consultant vascular surgeon at our Harley Street Clinic.

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I’m Rachel, I’m 38 years old and I’m a former retail worker from Aylesbury. I first noticed I had prominent veins on both of my legs in my early 20s, and as I got older they became progressively worse. As I worked in retail at the time, spending all day on my feet meant that my legs gradually became sore and heavy and tired, I’d have to spend my evenings with my feet up. They constantly throbbed and had a heaviness to them, and the hotter the weather got the worse my veins would get, and I’d wear long skirts and trousers to cover them up, whilst everyone else was in lovely summery clothes. I debated speaking to my GP about them, however I knew they would brush it off as purely cosmetic. Plus, I’d heard the horror stories about vein stripping – which was enough to put me off.

I got to a point where my self-esteem took a massive hit – I felt alone and anxious and dreaded lovely warm weather. None of my friends knew what I was going through, my legs were constantly covered, I could only dream of getting them out again. As time went on, I started to miss out on social situations – from my friend’s hen weekend away to taking my young son swimming. That’s when I realised I couldn’t go on this way, my veins were taking over my life, I knew I had to do something about it.

After a quick search online, I came across UK Vein Clinic, after researching I was shocked – not only by how easily my veins could be treated but – how affordable and straight forward the procedure was, seeing so many positive views I couldn’t help but book a consultation at their Harley Street clinic. When my consultation came around, I was so overwhelmed and relieved that they might be able to help that I cried, to finally be reassured that I could get treated.

In October 2021 I received radiofrequency ablation and foam sclerotherapy, which was followed up by a second round of sclerotherapy in January 2022. The nurses were incredibly reassuring, making sure I was relaxed while they talked me through the entire procedure. The treatment was a great success, it didn’t just get rid of my veins but it’s given me back my confidence – all I could think was ‘I’m so excited that I can finally wear a lovely summer dress, especially after almost 20 years of hiding my legs away with long skirts and stuffy trousers. I am over the moon with the results, my life has improved so much!

My advice would be – book that consultation! I wish I had done it years ago, because it would have saved me a lot of pain and anxiety. Just knowing there’s someone to speak to, to reassure you and debunk those horrific myths. Make sure you’re speaking to your friends and family, I wish I had because varicose veins feel like such a taboo topic, one stereotyped as only affecting older women and being purely cosmetic which just isn’t true.

Rachel's treatment was performed by Michael Dialynas, a consultant vascular surgeon at our Harley Street clinic.