What is surgery to remove varicose veins?
An operation can remove varicose veins in your legs. Varicose veins don’t usually cause serious health problems, but they can be uncomfortable, and many people don’t like the way they look. You get varicose veins when the valves in your veins don’t close properly. Valves let blood flow in only one direction through your blood vessels. But if the valves don’t close, blood can trickle backwards and pool in your veins. This causes the bulging, twisted veins that you can see through your skin. In the operation to remove varicose veins, your surgeon will make a cut in your leg and remove the vein with the faulty valves. The faulty valves are usually found in one of the two large veins that run just under the skin along the length of your leg. These are called surface veins. One surface vein runs up your inside leg from your ankle to your groin. The other runs up the back of your leg from your ankle to your knee.
