Reminder - OR-Live.com Presents: Laser Surgery Zaps the Ache and Ugliness of Varicose Veins

Live Webcast From The Nebraska Medical Center, Thursday, September 15th at 5:00 pm CT (22:00 UTC)

The days of lengthy incisions, stitches and scars to treat varicose veins are gone at The Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Now, a laser fiber and skilled vascular surgeon Jason Johanning, M.D. can fix the problem with little discomfort, tiny incisions and believe it or not -- no stitches.

"It's amazing...I feel great!" said Rich Kubat, 67, a pharmacist who says standing on his feet for 40 years took a toll on his legs. "The veins were popping out. People were commenting and I had a constant aching in my legs to the point that I couldn't wait to get home and get my feet up," Kubat recalled.

Those complaints are common among people with varicose veins, which are often caused by a faulty valve in the veins that run just under the skin.

"When those veins become enlarged and dilate abnormally -- it creates the varicose veins," explained Dr. Johanning. "The ultimate problem, however, is a bad valve somewhere within the vein system."

Dr. Johanning finds and treats the problem using ultrasound, a laser fiber and incisions about the size of small freckle. "Essentially what we do is put a laser fiber into the large superficial vein to scar it down. Then we remove enlarged adjacent veins through incisions so small the skin heals on its own," said Dr. Johanning.

"The recovery time was really very short," said Kubat. "I took a pain pill the first night and after that it was just an aspirin or Motrin. So the pain was almost non-existent."

Julie Karloff, 42, a nurse of 20 years, came to Dr. Johanning because her legs were tired, throbbing and aching. For Julie the issue was more medical than cosmetic. "After my third child, I got back into a more active lifestyle. I noticed that when I was exercising or working my legs were becoming more and more tired and more uncomfortable."

Dr. Johanning says women get varicose veins more often than men because of their physiology. Julie had the surgery done last year and says she would "absolutely do it again."

Visit http://www.or-live.com/nebraskamedical/1423 now to learn more. VNR: http://www.or-live.com/rams/nmc-1423-mkw-q.ram

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