Where should You Have Varicose Veins Treated in Switzerland?
Vein treatments are offered in vein clinics (specialties: vascular surgery, phlebology, dermatology, angiology) as well as in hospitals and vein clinics offered. I personally really like a vein clinic because the chief physicians are excellent vascular surgeons (I’d be happy to reveal the name in person). Standard care is guaranteed everywhere in Switzerland. The large BUT is that classic surgery (the more or less forceful tearing out of veins) is usually offered, typically under general anesthesia, and that is simply no longer good enough today. Nobody wants cuts, wounds, injuries, bleeding, or nerve damage if it’s not absolutely necessary. Nobody wants to suffer pain or be unnecessarily absent from work. A very clear No to surgery, it is not necessary in a single case. And a No to anesthesia, it endangers the person even if they “survive” it. One more thing: We observe that simple sclerotherapy or “modern methods” are increasingly being performed by very inexperienced practitioners, or modern methods are performed under anesthesia or combined with injurious, bloody, and traumatizing procedures (vein stripping, phlebectomy). So be careful with simple “radio waves”, “lasers”, “foam sclerotherapy”, or “vein gluing” – the risk of wrong concepts, incomplete care, and complications is high. In my opinion, the best solution is our angioclinic – methodology in Zurich, because we every vein problem can be solved with high-tech catheters or micro-instruments, under local anesthesia, pain-free and without complications. People go home with happy faces, gently treated legs, and exemplary aesthetics. These are the most successful procedures worldwide with assured quality and long-term experience, with the entire know-how of the largest clinic for endovenous vein therapy in Europe. I recommend learning about all options.
With a few questions, you can roughly assess the quality of vein treatments, measured against international standards of modern vein medicine:
- Has the treating physician co-developed the offered method themselves (3 points), learned it (1 point), or self-taught it (0)? By “learned” is understood an actively assisting and practicing apprenticeship of at least 6 months (per method!) under an internationally renowned master.
- Is the method internationally recognized (3 points), tolerated (1 point), or still experimental (0), for example, according to the standards of the British health authority (NICE)?
- Does the physician have outstanding (3 points), average (1 point), or little experience (0) with the exact method offered? Outstanding means Top 20 in the world.
- Can the physician solve all vein problems completely without surgery and anesthesia (3 points), with superficial surgery (1 point), or can they not (0)?
- Does the physician have a convincing concept for the complete (3 points) or extensive (1 point) avoidance of problems during or after treatment, or not (0)?
For adequate vein treatment, at least 5 points should be achieved; for good vein treatment, at least 8 points; and for treatment by true vein experts, at least 10 points. In our Vein Center in Zurich, we achieve 15/15 points, reaching the maximum score.
