Sclerotherapy for Riverdale, NJ

From Riverdale to the treatment room

Our office is at 624 Main Road, Suite 2B, Towaco. From Riverdale, take the Newark-Pompton Turnpike to Jacksonville Road and follow it into Towaco — around 11 minutes when the roads are clear. A session lasts about thirty minutes, so it fits into a morning; the office opens at 9 am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

What the injection does

A very fine needle delivers a small amount of sclerosant solution into the vein. The lining reacts, the walls seal together, and in the weeks that follow the body absorbs the closed vessel while blood finds other paths. It has been the standard treatment for spider veins and small varicose veins for decades.

Planning a course

Most legs need more than a single visit, and a realistic plan saves disappointment:

• Allow time. Treated veins darken for two to four weeks and fade over roughly four to eight. Larger ones take longer and may need a second pass, so if you want your legs clear by a particular date, start well ahead of it.
• Expect an estimate, not a promise. How many sessions you need depends on how many veins there are and how they respond, and Dr. Donna D’Alessio judges that after examining you.
• Deal with any source first. If a scan shows a refluxing vein feeding the surface, that vein is closed first — with radiofrequency ablation or Varithena — and sclerotherapy finishes the small branches afterwards. Otherwise the injected veins simply refill.

The day itself

You are fitted with compression stockings before getting off the table, and you leave on foot. Most people wear them continuously for the first day and through the daytime for about a week after that. For around 48 hours, skip hot baths, saunas and sun on the treated skin, and leave hard workouts for a few days. Occasionally a small brown mark lingers for some months; sun on a healing vein makes that more likely.

Riverdale patients ask

What does it feel like? A quick sting, or a warm cramp in a larger vein, lasting a few seconds each time. No numbing is needed.

Is anything checked before the first injection? Your medical history, including any previous blood clot and the medicines you take now. Where the pattern of your veins suggests a deeper problem, the leg is scanned as well.

Is it covered by insurance? Sclerotherapy for spider veins alone is usually treated as cosmetic. When an ultrasound shows reflux underneath, treating that vein is a separate medical question. We check your benefits and tell you which applies — see insurance and fees.

More on the main sclerotherapy page, or sclerotherapy for neighbouring Kinnelon.