A question we frequently get asked when people are booking in for their vein treatment is “when can I drive after my vein treatment?”. Well it depends on the treatment that you are having.
Now if you are having the VenaSeal procedure by Sapheon (that’s where we use a medical superglue inside the vein) you can drive yourself straightaway. That means you can drive to the procedure and home or back to work even after your treatment. That’s because we use very little local anaesthetic in fact usually just one small local anaesthetic injection her leg. And there is no bandaging or stocking to wear afterwards. So I have known people who have driven themselves to the treatment and then driven back to work or back home afterwards. There is no restriction on driving straight away.
If you are having sclerotherapy and it is your 1st treatment I usually advise that you don’t drive straight away. You have somebody bring you to the clinic and drive you away. And the reason for this is that very rarely sclerotherapy can cause quite a bad headache and it can bring on a migraine with some flashing lights in front the eye. It usually only affects people who suffer with migraine only. It is never permanent – it only lasts usually just a few minutes, an hour maximum. But I would not want you to drive if you have a blinding headache and if you have got some visual symptoms. And for that reason on the 1st occasion I say have somebody bring you to the clinic and take you home. Now if you have had sclerotherapy and you have had nothing like this, you have not had a headache or any visual symptoms, then I am very happy for you to drive yourself to the clinic and drive away, both for foam sclerotherapy and after sclerotherapy for thread veins.
If you are having an endo-venous treatment such as laser or radio-frequency (VNUS Closure by Covidien) I do not advise driving straight away after the treatment. I recommend that you have somebody bring you to the clinic for your treatment and then drive you home. And the reason for this is that we use typically quite a lot of local anaesthetic and we do often put a firm bandage with a stocking over the top. This doesn’t inhibit your ability to walk. These treatments are walk-in walkout and you will be able to walk. It causes no weakness of the leg but I would not feel comfortable about you driving home after an endo-venous treatment. The next day if you feel comfortable and if you are able to do an emergency stop, you can drive. Now the important things here are that you are able to do an emergency stop. Imagine the situation in which a child ran out in front of you, through through no fault of your own you hit that child, would you be able to put your hand on your heart and say yes I did an emergency stop and had I not had the treatment I would not have been able to stop any more quickly. You might have to justify that to the police if they were called. The other thing you need to be sure about is that your insurance, your car insurance covers you for driving very quickly after the treatment. Just double check with your insurance company. Tell them what treatment you had and see if they have any particular guidelines. So there you are that’s my advice about driving after vein treatments. I hope you found it useful. Contact me today for a confidential chat If you’re worried about your veins and would like a confidential chat please do get in touch. I am happy to offer simple advice by telephone or email for free and without obligation.
Disclaimer: Watching this video does not constitute a medical consultation. Individual advice may vary. Please see your own GP or vein specialist for specific advice.