How the treatment works

THE treatment Julia Bradbury has for thread veins – which are very fine blood vessels just beneath the skin of the legs – is called microsclerotherapy.

It involves injecting small amounts of an irritant substance called a scle-rosant into the veins after local anaesthetic is administered.

The lining of the vessels then sticks together, stopping blood from flowing. This destroys the veins and causes them to disappear over time.

Patients are advised to wear compression stockings for 15 days after the procedure so that blood does not return.

Before the treatment, patients have ultrasound scans to find out if there are underlying varicose veins that are feeding blood into the thread veins and keeping them open.

Multiple sessions are usually needed for the best results and it can take two to three months for the treatment to work. Thread veins can then return after several more months.