Recovery After Varicose Vein Treatment

Most people can walk within minutes of varicose vein treatment and return to their desks within two days. This guide explains what to expect after EVLA, radiofrequency ablation and phlebectomy at Anglia Vein Clinic, and what to do if anything worries you. You will also receive written instructions specific to your treatment.

 

The first 48 hours

• Stocking on, day and night. We fit a compression stocking over your bandages before you leave. Take it off only if you develop severe pain or numbness in your foot — and if that happens, telephone the hospital where you had your procedure straight away.

• Walk. Five to ten minutes every hour while you are awake. This is the most useful thing you can do for your recovery.

• Keep your legs up when you sit, and drink plenty of fluids.

• Pain relief. Ibuprofen and paracetamol together are usually enough, provided you can normally take them.

• Keep everything dry — no baths, showers over the leg, or swimming.

 

After 48 hours

Carefully remove the outer bandages and padding, leaving the small dressings over the wounds in place. Put the compression stocking straight back on. Wear it day and night for a further five days, then during the daytime only for the next two weeks. If you find the bandages difficult to remove, call us, and we will arrange for a nurse to help.

 

Getting back to normal

• Walking, 5–10 minutes every hour: straight away. It keeps your risk of a blood clot low.

• Showering: after 48 hours. Remove the stocking, shower briefly, pat dry, then put it straight back on.

• Desk work: after 48 hours. Many patients take the rest of the week off.

• Driving: after 48 hours, and only when you can stop in an emergency without hesitating; at least 24 hours after sedation or general anaesthetic. Check your insurer's terms.

• Standing or manual work: 7–14 days, depending on the work. Please discuss it with us.

• Gym, cycling, running: after 14 days. Build back up gradually and keep walking meanwhile.

• Lifting over 10 kg: after 14 days. This includes heavy shopping, children and gardening.

• Baths, swimming, hot tubs: after 14 days, once the puncture sites have fully sealed.

• Flights under 4 hours: after 14 days. Wear your stocking and walk about every hour.

• Flights over 4 hours: after 4 weeks. Wear stockings, walk every hour, and drink plenty of water.

Where an activity is not listed, let comfort guide you: if it hurts, it is too early.

 

What is normal

• Bruising and tenderness, often extensive at phlebectomy sites and at their worst between days three and seven. It fades over one to three weeks.

• Tightness along the treated vein between days five and ten, usually the inner thigh or back of the calf. It eases over two to three weeks.

• Firm, tender lumps along the vein as it is absorbed (phlebitis). Compression, walking and anti-inflammatories help.

• Ankle swelling in the first week, worse in the evening.

 

Call the clinic if

• pain is increasing after the first five days rather than settling

• the skin becomes red, hot or starts to discharge, or you develop a temperature

• lumps are spreading upwards along the vein

• a patch of skin is still completely numb after a week

• blisters appear under the dressings or stocking

• the stocking is causing pain, or you cannot get it back on

Practice office: 01245 241 340, Monday to Friday. Outside office hours, telephone the hospital where you had your procedure: Springfield Hospital 01245 234000, St Edmunds Hospital 01284 701371, Weymouth Street Hospital 020 7079 2100. Phoenix Hospital (01245 801234) has no staff overnight, so Phoenix patients should call NHS 111 out of hours, or 999 in an emergency.