Leg Vein Treatment in Beauty Salons and Hairdressers – It’s legal, but is it right?
You may be surprised to know that in the UK almost anyone can treat leg spider veins in a beauty salon or hairdressers. Now you might think this surprising, after all, leg spiders veins are often associated with underlying superficial venous reflux (sometimes called hidden varicose veins) and therefore in many cases, leg spider veins are a medical condition, not simply cosmetic. Furthermore, the solution that is injected into the veins is a prescription-only-medicine (POM), that is, it must be prescribed by an appropriately qualified nurse or doctor, dispensed by a pharmacy, transported, stored safely and administered by appropriately qualified persons. The medicine (the Sclerosant) is then injected into a vein, yes that’s right intravenously.
Now is it right, that people with leg spider veins should have a medical diagnosis (often without an ultrasound scan I might add) and then have an intravenous injection for that medical condition in a beauty salon or hairdressers. I think not, but there is no law against it in the United Kingdom.
It seems a little strange to me that a clinic that diagnoses a chest infection that it then treats with antibiotics taken by mouth must be registered and regulated by the Care Quality Commission – by law – and that clinics that diagnose leg telangiectasia and treat these veins by intravenous injections have no legal requirement to be registered and regulated. This seems to me to be an anomaly. Many of my vascular colleagues in other countries also think this is very strange.
In my opinion sclerotherapy, and I include Microsclerotherapy, ideally ought to be regulated by law to protect the public. For my family and friends I would certainly recommend that leg vein treatment be carried out in CQC-regulated clinics.
What do you think? Now if you are a member of the public considering leg spider vein treatment, or a vein specialist who carries out these treatments, I would be interested to know your views. If you are a vein specialist outside the UK, let me know what happens in your country. Send me a message via the contact form.