HOUSTON – Hands are often a dead giveaway to age, but most procedures to get rid of them are temporary and the end result is less than perfect. They use fillers or fat, which disguises the veins, but doesn’t eliminate them.
A vascular surgeon in California is using an in-office technique that’s permanent and painless.
Alyse Aratoon didn’t like one specific aspect of getting older.
Aratoon said, “I noticed that my hands were aging at a much faster rate than the rest of me. I had these big, bulgy hand veins that were just not pretty at all.”
She researched her options and chose the RejuvaHands procedure by vascular surgeon Gabriel Goren, MD, in Encino, California near Los Angeles.
Dr. Goren explained, “It’s easy done, local anesthesia, office setting, no convalescence. You drive away from here. Your fingers are moving.”
Dr. Goren marks the veins and uses these tools, which have hooks on the ends, to remove them through tiny holes. The procedure takes two to three hours.
Dr. Goren detailed, “I will individually tease out the veins that come out in segments. No stitches applied.”
Patients’ hands are bandaged, but they can drive themselves home.
Aratoon said that she is “Very satisfied. I work out four to five times a week, and the veins are still gone.”
Dr. Goren developed RejuvaHands from a procedure called hook phlebectomy, or removing veins from legs. He said bruising and swelling are the only side effects, and they go away quickly. The procedure costs about $3,000.
Houston plastic surgeon, Dr. Mirwat Sami said there could be vascular compromise with this procedure. She prefers more conservative approaches to reducing age spots on hands, such as lasers.
