High Tech Bubble Bath Fixes Chronic Venous Insufficiency?

Chattanooga, TN  – The Vascular Institute is Chattanooga’s Premier Vein Clinic and today they are giving us an inside look at how they treat Chronic Venous Insufficiency. Over 20 million Americans, about 1 in 3, suffer from this. Symptoms can include fatigue, heaviness, achy legs, painful swelling or varicose veins. It can often lead to open wounds as well.

Technology has come a long way in treating and caring for this condition.  According to Dr. William Harris “So back in the day we used to take patients to the operating room. Do vein stripping which were bloody procedures, made incisions on all throughout their legs and pulled out the veins. And the patients had a lot of pain and everything else. Now I take this catheter and under ultrasound guidance, put it into the vein and take this foam bubble bath called Vera Athena, inject it into the vein. I’m done in two minutes, closes down the vein, shifts blood flow from that superficial vein system that’s diseased into the deep vein system and decompresses the leg and helps you feel a lot better.”

This procedure takes less time for the surgeon, and is a lot less invasive for the client.  Typically the entire time is less than an hour.  Vera Athena makes the new treatment and even Dr. Harris agreed it resembles spray foam insulation or fancy bubble bath, but patients can expect a quick and painless treatment and the ability to go back about their day as quickly as possible. The tech foam closes off the superficial veins, basically the side streets, and moves the blood flow back to the main highways to help reduce pain and swelling and the appearance of varicose veins.

“My whole time here is an hour or less,” says Harris. “They have their legs back and they can go back to walking and running. And at the end of the day that your legs are not fatigued, they’re not swollen, they’re not painful.”