“I had two quite big varicose veins, which would get painful in hot weather and in the evenings. When I was about 24, I had one injected but I was left with one below my knee, which ran horizontally across the front of my right leg. After having three children, it got more swollen and painful and looked quite tortuous. But it was really only in the last two years that I thought that I would like to get rid of it.
I saw Michael Gaunt a couple of times and on the initial visit, he used ultrasound to trace the vein to see how much work he needed to do.
The operation took about an hour. Mr Gaunt passed a laser fibre along the faulty vein and then laser energy was used to close off the vein. There was no pain afterwards and no stitches. I wore compression bandages for two days, then support stockings for two weeks and walked twice a day for a good half an hour to keep the blood circulation moving.
I waited six weeks to have a check-up with Mr Gaunt before I did anything else more energetic than walking. Now I am back running, playing tennis and cycling – it’s fantastic.
And with no bulging veins, I’m looking forward to wearing summer dresses.”
