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I have just treated a lady with varicose veins under a local anaesthetic. Before starting
her leg vein removal, Amanda from Yeovil in Somerset confided that she didn't like the
sight of blood and she was a little squeamish. Would there be a lot of bleeding during the
vein operation? Well, modern leg vein treatments do not cause bleeding and here's why.
The local anaesthetic solution I use contains adrenaline. This is a natural substance produced
in the body by a gland near the kidney, the adrenal gland and when adrenaline is mixed
with the local anaesthetic it has three important benefits. Firstly, it prolongs the action
of the local anaesthetic, typically for 18 hours. Not only is the treatment itself painless,
but there is no discomfort for the rest of the day. Secondly, it causes the veins to
collapse and shrink so they are much easier to treat with laser or radiofrequency and
they can be extracted through tiny nicks in the skin only slightly larger than a needle
prick for an injection or a blood test. This allows the vein surgery to be performed with
virtually no scars or marks. Lastly, and mostly relevant to Amanda's question, adrenaline
stops bleeding. You may have seen adrenaline in action at a boxing match. When the contestant
gets a cut over the eye, it is in adrenaline in the stick that his coach applies that stops
the bleeding and allows the contest to go ahead. The hormone adrenaline has allowed
us to treat veins safely under local anaesthetic without any bleeding. Now, I hope you have
found this interesting. Do please remember to subscribe and be the first to see my next
video. Thank you for watching.