What is Sclerotherapy?

The word "Sclerotherapy" comes from 2 Greek words:

Sklerosis and Therapeia

Sklerosis means 'hardness'.
Therapeia means 'service done to the sick'.

In modern language, these terms are now:

Sclerosis and Therapy

Sclerosis a 'hardness (or induration) of tissues or blood vessels'.
Therapy is 'treatment of disease'.

And so the term "Sclerotherapy" of varicose veins has come to mean an injection of a chemical into varicose veins that causes scarring of those varicose veins.

The following pages take you through what is supposed to happen - and then what generally really does happen.