Dr. Stephen Torpy and Varicose Vein Surgery

Ultrasound confirmed that the blood Janice Winter's legs was pooling, causing pain, pressure and swelling.

Eliminating varicose veins used to mean at least a night in hospital and a painful recovery, and until now, many women have chose to live with the pain rather than face the painful surgery.

But at Alegent Health, patients now have a new option. The old vein stripping operation is now being replaced by a state-of-the-art procedure.

Dr. Stephen Torpy, a vascular surgeon with the Alegent Health Heart and Vascular Institute says the operation is "minimally invasive, done as an outpatient, and has very little discomfort associated with it - and gives just as good, or better, results."

Find out more about Dr. Torpy

Surgeons insert a catheter through a mini incision in the lower leg and thread it up the problem vein. Radio frequencies then heat the vein wall.

"That causes the vein to shrink down, and eventually scar and close up," says Dr. Torpy.

Healthy veins then take over. Within hours of the outpatient surgery, patients report that they typically return to their daily routine with no pain at all.

Janice Winters says, "I went out and helped babysit my twin baby granddaughters, which at that time were five months old, and I didn't have a bit of discomfort."

This new procedure gives patients at Alegent Health another choice, and studies show the varicose veins don't come back for most patients.

Find out more about the Alegent Health Heart and Vascular Institute.