Where should Varicose Veins be treated in Switzerland?

Vein treatments are offered in vein practices (specialist areas: vascular surgery, phlebology, dermatology, angiology) as well as in hospitals and vein clinics. I personally very much like a vein clinic because the chief physicians are excellent vascular surgeons (I am happy to reveal the name in a conversation). Standard care is guaranteed everywhere in Switzerland. The big BUT is that classical surgery (the more or less violent tearing out of veins) is usually offered, usually under general anaesthesia, and that is simply not good enough today. Nobody wants cuts, wounds, injuries, bleeding or nerve damage if it is not absolutely necessary. Nobody wants to suffer pain or be unnecessarily absent at work. A clear no to surgery, it is not necessary in any case. And a no to anaesthesia, it endangers the person even if you 'survive' it.

Another thing: We observe that now more and more often simple desolations or 'modern methods' are performed in very inexperienced performances, or modern methods are performed under anaesthesia or combined with injurious, bloody and traumatizing procedures (vein pulling, phlebectomy). Beware of simple 'radio waves', 'lasers', 'foam sclerotherapy' or 'vein adhesions': there is a great danger of wrong approaches, incomplete care and risks. In my opinion, the best solution is our angioclinic® method in Zurich, because we can solve any vein problem with high-tech catheters or micro-instruments, under small local anaesthesia, painlessly and without problems. People go home with happy faces, gently rehabilitated legs and exemplary aesthetics. These are the most successful procedures in the world with assured quality and long-term experience, with the entire know-how of the largest clinic for endovenous vein therapy in Europe. I recommend that you inform yourself about all the possibilities.

With just a few questions you can roughly estimate the quality of vein treatment, measured against the international standards of modern vein medicine:

• Has the attending physician developed the offered method himself (3 points), been taught (1 point) or learnt it by himself (0)?
•  By 'taught' we mean actively assisting and practicing under the guidance of an internationally renowned teacher for at least 6 months (per method!).
• Is the method internationally recognised (3 points), tolerated (1 point) or still experimental (0), e.g. according to the standards of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)?
• Does the physician have a superior (3 points), average (1 point) or low experience (0) for exactly the method offered? Outstanding means being among the top 20 in the world.
• Can the doctor solve all venous problems completely without surgery and anaesthesia (3 points), with superficial surgery (1 point) or can he not (0)?
• Does the doctor have a convincing concept for complete (3 points) or extensive (1 point) avoidance of problems during or after treatment, or not (0)?

For a sufficient vein treatment at least 5 points, for a good vein treatment at least 8 points and for a treatment by real vein experts at least 10 points should be achieved. In our vein center in Zurich we achieve the maximum score of 15/15 points.