Varicose vein removal 220,000 baht

[sexyman]

A hospital in Bangkok quoted me 220,000 baht to treat varicose veins in both legs, using the laser ablation method. Breakdown was 10k per leg for ultrasound, and 100k per leg for the laser ablation. No overnight hospital stay required. Does this sound reasonable, anyone have recent experience with this procedure ? 

[Harrisfan]

Sounds like a waste of money. 3 years rent.

[save the frogs]

FYI:

There are supplements on iHerb for varicose veins, but don't know how effective they are or if they are useful at all for severe cases

 

[Keeps]

1 minute ago, Harrisfan said:

Sounds like a waste of money. 3 years rent.

Invaluable advice Dr. Bignok.

[Sheryl]

Not an unusual price for that method  in a Bangkok private hospital. 

 

Might be less at Yanhee  https://www.yanhee.net/pricing-packages/plastic-surgery-prices/

 

Supplements won't do anything.

[Celsius]

12 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Sounds like a waste of money. 3 years rent.

 

But he wants to be a sexy man again

[Harrisfan]

1 minute ago, Celsius said:

 

But he wants to be a sexy man again

Need money for that.

[still kicking]

1 hour ago, Harrisfan said:

Sounds like a waste of money. 3 years rent.

Wow, you pay a lot for a shoebox in Issan.

[Zaphod Priest]

Have you considered sclerotherapy? An injection is made into the blood vessels to block them off, and the varicose vein subsequently disappears.  It's minimally invasive and an outpatient treatment.   Should cost a lot less.

[Snackbar]

Get a job with medical insurance inc

[brfsa2]

I did at Bumrungrad many years ago using some new tech with only a few minor incisions, they are all go now.

It was not expensive for 1 leg, maybe because I could leave the hospital in the afternoon and no need to admin... So, got there 9am fasting, back home by 4pm with lots of pain walking, but cleared after few days.

The doctor was a friend, so he didnt charge too much for his fees, but I had to pay full for the hospital fee which was around 44K THB, without the discount about 120K. maybe today should be close to 200K.

 

I only did because I had the opportunity and  it was genetic to my DNA. it's been 10 years since then and my legs looks exactly the same today without any large varicose vein ( that's because I became athlete in the past 10 years since the surgery)

 

 

Sclerotherapy is also a good option, if you only have very small varicose vein or spider veins. Large ones need the actual removal of the vein.

[The Fugitive]

1 hour ago, Zaphod Priest said:

Have you considered sclerotherapy? An injection is made into the blood vessels to block them off, and the varicose vein subsequently disappears.  It's minimally invasive and an outpatient treatment.   Should cost a lot less.

Have you had this? If so, how long ago? My surgeon back in 1990 told me he didn't do injections because they don't work. He performed 'strip and ligate' upon my legs in sections, as he said it was less 'barbaric'.

[thesetat]

15 hours ago, sexyman said:

A hospital in Bangkok quoted me 220,000 baht to treat varicose veins in both legs, using the laser ablation method. Breakdown was 10k per leg for ultrasound, and 100k per leg for the laser ablation. No overnight hospital stay required. Does this sound reasonable, anyone have recent experience with this procedure ? 

10k per leg is steep. SHould only be 1-2k... so if they are overcharging this then the laser is probably triple the normal cost. 

[TopThai54]

far too expensive ! Get at least a couple more quotes ftom different hospitals ! 

[renaissanc]

Just my opinion since my wife and I treat and prevent ailments with natural foods. I realise that you might reject the premise that foods prevent and cure medical problems, but Google search "how to treat varicose vein problems with food". It's a shame to spend so much money when the cause of the problem might be what you eat and your lifestyle.

[ericbj]

What are varicose veins?

 

For those who imagine the only concern is aesthetic:

 

They are veins that are not transporting adequate quantities of blood back to the heart.  Because the valves in the two deep veins in each leg are not closing correctly.  This in turn can be because the bore of these veins has become enlarged beyond the norm of about 5 mm.

 

This can result in arterial hypotension (low blood pressure).  If the heart receives inadequate blood, the consequences can be serious.

 

[According to a medical researcher, Dr Micozzi, writing several years ago, more U.S. citizens die from hypotension than hypertension.  The reason he gives is that patients on drugs for hypertension return to their doctor for a renewed prescription and some doctors issue the prescription without checking whether the patient's blood pressure has fallen to normal.]

 

The venous system is designed to leak a certain proportion of its blood plasma to the lymphatic system, which bathes the body's cells, bringing them needed nutrients and carrying away their metabolic waste products.  The blood plasma is leaked out through capillaries of a bore too small to accept cellular matter, such as red and white blood cells.

 

When blood tends to stagnate in the veins it can exert excess pressure in the lower legs and feet, causing excess leakage of blood plasma and lymphoedema.  Lymphoedema manifests itself as swollen feet and ankles, and if it persists for too long it can give rise to cripplingly painful venous ulcers, which are very difficult to heal and can persist for years.  Despite their name, these ulcers weep principally lymph, sometimes mixed with blood.

Treating the deep veins, using silicone stents, may be the more effective way to deal with varicose ulcers, if things have deteriorated to this stage.

 

Killing off the superficial veins by sclerotherapy is cheaper than surgical stripping, but requires more visits over a longer period; since it deliberately causes blood clotting, and must therefore by done little by little.  Not all the clotted blood can be removed, but as much as possible is sucked out later with a hypodermic syringe.

[Letseng]

17 hours ago, save the frogs said:

FYI:

There are supplements on iHerb for varicose veins, but don't know how effective they are or if they are useful at all for severe cases

 

Snake oil

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, Snackbar said:

Get a job with medical insurance inc

 

Are you competing with Harrisfan for dumb and moronic comment of the day ? 

[richard_smith237]

18 hours ago, sexyman said:

A hospital in Bangkok quoted me 220,000 baht to treat varicose veins in both legs,

 

If you are paying out of pocked and wish to limit expenses there could be a few options open to you.

 

A) See if the same Dr. you are seeing at the private hospital works at a public hospital (they often do) and see what the price would be there. 

 

B) Register at a public hospital and seek treatment (and a quote) there which 'should' be cheaper, though maybe you'll have more waiting around etc

[connda]

53 minutes ago, Letseng said:

Snake oil

More snake oil.  Or not. 

OP - consider this to be a prophylaxis for further vascular damage. 
Horse Chestnut Extract/Aescin 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0102695X15001003
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6776292/

 

Or do your own searches.  Plenty of information available.  Make up your own mind.

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, thesetat said:

10k per leg is steep. SHould only be 1-2k... so if they are overcharging this then the laser is probably triple the normal cost. 

100k or so per leg is the norm for laser ablation removal of varicose veins  in private hospitals in Bangkok.  But some will do 2 legs for not much more than one. 

 

Nowhere in the world can this be done for 1-2k. I suspect you are thinking of  different treatment. 

[connda]

32 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

If you are paying out of pocked and wish to limit expenses there could be a few options open to you.

 

A) See if the same Dr. you are seeing at the private hospital works at a public hospital (they often do) and see what the price would be there. 

 

B) Register at a public hospital and seek treatment (and a quote) there which 'should' be cheaper, though maybe you'll have more waiting around etc

I'll ditto that.  You can get the same procedures done at government hospitals for a fraction of the cost.  Hospitals aligned with universities are an excellent choice such as Maharaj government hospital which have many Chiang Mai University professors/MDs on staff.  The down side?  Processing though for an appointment is usually a half a day affair at minimum.  And then the time needed to wait for a scheduled surgery.  If it's elective surgery and not a health emergency, government hospitals are an affordable alternate choice to expensive private hospitals.