FDA approves new treatment for varicose veins

Last Wednesday, March 31st, the FDA announced that a new treatment for varicose veins has been approved. The generic name, polidocanol (marketed in the US as Asera) works by causing damage to the cell lining of the veins, which makes them close up and eventually disappear, replaced by other types of tissue. Asclera is designed and approved for veins smaller in diameter than 1 mm in diameter as well as reticular veins that are between 1 and 3 mm in diameter. (For Americans that's 1/24th to 1/8th of an inch).

There are three types of vein problems: varicose, spider and reticular. Spider veins are extremely small—you often get them around the ankles and sometimes on the upper thighs, as well as on the face. They can ache, burn and swell and spider veins on the legs can cause night cramps. Varicose veins are the most noticeable and are often located on the calves. Reticular veins are generally very mild and cause little discomfort. In our practice, sclerosing agents, such as the new Asclera, have been a treatment of choice along with laser treatments.

To your health and beauty,

Dr. Joe Danyo