I carried three babies to term and experienced no trouble with varicose veins, but my good fortune didn't hold with my fourth pregnancy. Several months before my fourth child was born, I looked down in the shower and thought I had somehow spilled ink on my right ankle, because I suddenly had a mass of spider veins. I soon learned I had several varicose veins on the same leg, and I told myself that I would get them fixed as soon as possible after the baby was born.

That was 2005, and after I had my baby in late March, the craziness of life with four kids became all-consuming. By the time I finally started asking questions about vein treatment, more than a year had passed, and the first visit I made was to a plastic surgeon. I called to make an appointment, and they explained that they would inject dye into my spider veins to take away their ugly appearance. But when I showed up for my appointment, the nurse there was honest enough to tell me that until I had my varicosities fixed, the spider veins would only return. I learned that plastic surgeons can't treat varicose veins because they are part of the circulatory system, and that I should visit a radiologist.

I was fortunate in that a local radiologist was a member of my church and an acquaintance, but I would advise anyone in a similar situation to ask friends they trust for a doctor's referral, so that you are comfortable with your medical professional from the time you walk in the door. I made an initial visit to his office to learn what the procedure would entail, but the pace of my life kept causing more delays. I also knew that I would need to have the treatment in the winter, because I would be required to wear a compression stocking for a full month afterward. I might have kept procrastinating for ten more years if a sudden issue with my right leg had not arisen in the winter of 2011. I was driving every other weekend on trips of three hours or more taking my daughter to volleyball tournaments, and any time I drove more than an hour and a half I experienced sharp pain from my right hip to my ankle. I knew the pain was caused by my varicose veins, but spring was approaching, so I pulled out an old compression stocking and started to wear it on my road trips.

Finally, late that year, I scheduled the laser treatments for my varicose veins for the winter of 2012. First, the radiologist had to do a thorough ultrasound on my leg to figure out if my varicosities were causing any issues with my circulation. The tests were conclusive; my circulation was being affected, and that finding, along with my pain, made the procedure medically necessary for me. The good news was that my insurance would therefore cover the treatment.

On the day of the procedure, I went to the office, laid down on my stomach on a bed in an exam room, and was given a local anesthesia to numb the vein. Using a laser, the radiologist burned the vein, basically killing it so that the blood would redirect itself through other veins. As he turned the laser up to a higher speed it was a little bit disconcerting, because I knew that an intense amount of heat was being directed into my vein, but I didn't feel any pain.

The most difficult part of the recovery was wearing the compression stocking every day for a month, but the next few weeks were actually extremely uneventful. To help expedite your recovery, anyone who undergoes a similar treatment should take the discharge instructions seriously and wear the compression stocking as directed. You will also have to limit your physical activity for a few days, but before long I was back to running and boot camp with my compression stocking. I never had trouble with pain in that leg again. In retrospect, I wish I had understood the difference between varicose and spider veins and moved more quickly on the proper treatment with the radiologist. I also wish that I had returned quickly to have my spider veins treated (they said that I could do that after a month, but warm weather intervened again and I didn't want to put the compression stocking back on). I still have those spider veins on my ankle, and I hope to have those treated next winter. In reality, though, if my previous experience is any indication, they might stay on my leg forever if I don't start experiencing some pain that makes me act.