My varicose veins throbbed so badly it kept me awake at night and the unsightly lumps killed my self-confidence for decades. I finally found a life-changing, pain-free procedure that zapped them for good

It’s been the scorching summer ever, and naturally people are sticking their legs out as they dress to stay cool and tan. And for the first time in years, I am among these people.

For most of my life I have been terrified at the thought of this type of exposure. Over the years, I became so self-conscious about my ‘old lady legs’ with their writhing varicose veins that I hated the thought of showing them off.

I will be turning 60 this year, but to my horror I discovered that varicose veins first appeared in my late 20s. It is a myth that it is caused by crossing your legs or being overweight. The most likely cause of getting them is genetics, and since both of my parents have the disease, it’s almost certain that they will occur in me as well.

These occur because the veins lose their elasticity and as a result become swollen with blood (I know, I cringe too.) The valves in the vein then weaken and allow blood to flow back in the opposite direction, until over time the vein expands to cope with the extra volume, resulting in the ‘lumpy leg’ appearance.

The strange thing is that, in an age where people are happy to talk openly about issues such as wrinkles and hair loss, we are still strangely reluctant and embarrassed to discuss our varicose veins.

But one in three people are affected by the condition, usually between the ages of 30 and 50, and women are twice as likely to have the disease as men; This is most likely because pregnancy is also an important reason. But mine appeared very early and long before either of my two children arrived.

I’m 6 feet tall and had a lot of long, skinny pins that I loved to show off in my teens and early 20s.

But as soon as I noticed the veins, I began to hide them under thick, opaque tights, jeans and trousers.

‘Blue worms’ shook Claire’s confidence. The veins lose their elasticity and therefore swell with blood.

Claire Ciscotti and her family. Claire would wear pants or tights to cover her legs

Having my legs covered in ugly ‘blue maggots’ at such a young age really shook my confidence. During the first few days of vacation, when my legs were pale and pale, I would stay by the pool with my sarong on, snugly fitting, and wear linen trousers in the evenings.

In my early 30s I decided enough was enough. For some reason they bothered me more than my boyfriends, but turning 30 was the catalyst for settling these things.

It was such a milestone birthday that there was nothing I could do about getting older, but I could fix my ugly left leg (it was much worse than my right leg at the time) and I paid to have it fixed privately using my company’s health insurance.

This was in the late 1990s, when the procedure was performed under general anesthesia because the veins were physically stripped from your legs. In total, I cut 16 of them behind my knee.

At first the idea of ​​losing my veins scared me, but actually we can afford it easily. We have hundreds of superficial ones, and getting rid of the ugly and swollen ones won’t affect circulation.

The experience was pretty scary. After spending a night in the hospital, I returned home with heavy bandages from my groin to my ankles and had to take care of my then-boyfriend. Poor guy had to help me heal my painful, oozing sores. That’s not exactly what you want in a relationship when you’re both young.

I returned to work for the second week, but had to sit with my legs up on the desk, wearing joggers, or ‘apartment pants’ as I call them (this was the heyday of the Friends era, and fans of the show will know exactly what I mean).

The problem with varicose veins is that it is a progressive condition. The ones you removed are gone permanently, but that doesn’t stop new ones from developing, and by my mid-40s there were more of them, and this time my right leg was bearing the brunt.

It was serious enough to be treated on the NHS. By this stage I had left London and was living in the countryside; I had a wonderful doctor here who recommended this procedure because the condition became particularly bad after the birth of my second child.

I had my leg done at Crawley Hospital while under general anesthetic and once again the veins were simply removed. This time I went home the same day.

Just because there’s a sore, bandaged leg, kids don’t stop running around and making demands on you, and this time with a three-year-old and a seven-year-old it’s even harder.

Worse still, I knew they would reappear, so while I loved my new smooth legs, I realized this wasn’t a permanent solution.

Even when I looked my best (for example, when I went back to a size 10 after losing the baby weight), I would always anxiously check my rear view in the mirror when wearing dresses, knowing that one day I would find the veins popping again. Of course they did and the problem was once again in my right leg.

Slowly they returned, growing larger and more ugly, until, in my late 50s, they again prevented me from living life to the fullest.

It wasn’t just its ugly appearance either. It was throbbing and itching around my ankle at night, and it was starting to keep me awake so much that I started sleeping with an ice pack on my ankle to reduce the discomfort.

As for NHS care, things had changed since my last surgery. Access to the procedure is now reserved for people with urgent medical needs (such as bleeding or ulcers) that exclude me. But I wasn’t ready to put up with them.

Claire now ‘likes’ to look over her shoulder to see the smooth back of her leg in the mirror

Claire can’t wait for her summer vacation and has already started clothes shopping after the procedure.

So, after reading that TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson had undergone varicose vein surgery for the third time, I decided to explore options for myself and went to Nuffield Hospital in Haywards Heath for my first private consultation with Mr Matthew Button earlier this year.

During our conversation, I was delighted to learn that surgical technology has advanced and that today there are quick, non-invasive ways to deal with unsightly blue veins that no longer require a full surgery or a painful, immobile two-week recovery.

The first thing Mr. Button had me do was stand on a mini ladder so he could examine my legs up close. After a cold, harsh winter, they were white and flaky (even though I moisturized every day) and the veins were uncomfortably swollen. Once again, I felt terribly shy, even in the presence of a man who saw and treated my legs as his own every day.

The next part of my treatment was an explanation; a scan to pinpoint exactly where the problem veins are.

Interestingly, this had never been done before: In the old days, surgeons would mark parts of my leg with a pencil. Now I would have a precise map of my meandering blue lines.

Vascular scientist Darren Cheal covered my legs with jelly – I was reminded of baby scans, even though my two children are now 26 and 22 – and began slowly moving a probe up and down my legs, pointing out the faulty valves in my veins.

It was strangely satisfying to see this. Mr. Cheal was able to trace the path of one of the varicose veins directly to the source of the problem: a faulty valve in the upper part of my right thigh.

Instead of draining the blood from my leg, the vein was not closing properly and the blood was ‘falling’ back down, causing the surface veins to swell.

Vascular scientist Darren Cheal with an ultra sound machine used for venous duplex scanning

He collected images and measurements detailing the faulty pathways, and I had a follow-up call with Mr. Button the next day; He recommended that I be treated with a combination of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and ‘foaming’ (or ‘foam sclerotherapy’).

After learning that the procedure would be painless and performed under local anesthesia, I made a reservation and received treatment a few weeks later.

Anesthesia was administered to numb my right leg and then a catheter was inserted into the vein through which thermal energy (the RFA part of the treatment) was delivered, sealing it from the inside.

Oddly enough, the weirdest part was initially the blood being drained from my vein, literally by gravity the treatment chair tilted all the way back so my head was close to the ground and my leg was in the air.

The ‘foam’ part of the treatment is reserved for smaller, less lumpy veins. A chemical foam is injected into them, which displaces blood and irritates the tissue, causing it to spasm, collapse and shut down.

It may sound scary, but it was completely painless and it was all over within 90 minutes.

How different from my previous two vascular surgeries. This time, I felt very relaxed as I chatted with the surgical team throughout the procedure. Mr Button was working with his incredibly competent assistant Ros, and a nurse was on hand to help with everything else.

The incisions were then treated with small steri strips and a dressing and compression stocking were placed from the groin to the foot. The socks were very thick and uncomfortable, but at least I could walk.

Actually I was made passing the nurse who said how important it was to move the blood as quickly as possible to prevent blood from pooling and reduce the risk of serious clots.

Remembering how awful it was to wear these bandages all day and night after the first surgery, I thought I had been smart to arrange to have the surgery done in mid-May, well before the summer heat.

Unfortunately, the heatwave arrived early and I found myself in 35C (95F) temperatures in my surgical sock!

My daughter was supposed to drive me home, but after 24 hours I was allowed to drive myself. After dinner we went for a walk and by 7am the next day I was working from home.

Afterwards my veins became a little rough and lumpy but I was told this was normal and within three weeks they were completely gone. Today, two months later, to my great happiness, the area where the veins were swollen is now completely smooth and straight.

I was lucky enough to have all costs covered by private healthcare, otherwise I would have been set back £3,700 including examination and scan. I look at my legs and I like what I see and I hope I don’t need another surgery.

The beauty of scanning is that it detects which veins may be causing problems and deals with them before they become swollen and unsightly.

I can finally enjoy having bare legs in the sun and even better my legs look 20 years younger.

I can’t help but run my hands over my thighs to marvel at the smoothness. Now I like to look over my shoulder at the mirror behind my leg. Not having a scary vein jutting out from the back of my knee anymore is a complete game changer.

I’m looking forward to my summer vacation and have already started clothes shopping; This time it’s not for sarongs and linen trousers. The shorts are being worn for the first time in many years, and believe me, they won’t be coming off until at least September.