---
title: What is Laser Ablation?
description: Laser Ablation therapy is considered a minimally invasive vein treatment procedure that makes use of laser technology. Find out how it works here.
image: https://health.veininstitutenj.com/hubfs/Blog%20Images/VNUS%20closure%20images.jpg
---

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![What is Laser Ablation?](https://health.veininstitutenj.com/hubfs/Blog%20Images/VNUS%20closure%20images.jpg)

# What is Laser Ablation?

- by [Dr. Clifford Sales, MD, MBA, FACS](https://health.veininstitutenj.com/blog/author/clifford-sales-md-facs-mba)
- [November 7th, 2017](https://health.veininstitutenj.com/blog/what-is-laser-ablation)
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The use of lasers has increased in medicine and The Vein Institute of New Jersey is a leader in this type of treatment for varicose veins.

Laser therapies use a focused light, which is so intense that it can be used to shape diamonds or cut steel. However, in medicine it allows surgeons to work at high levels of precision by focusing on a small area, damaging less of the surrounding tissue. With laser therapy, you may experience less pain, swelling, and scarring than with traditional surgery.

**Laser Ablation** therapy is considered a minimally invasive vein treatment procedure that makes use of laser technology. This means a vein doctor can make an "incisionless" removal of a varicose vein and offer an alternative solution for vein removal treatment.

## **How Laser Ablation Work?**

After a consult to ensure this procedure is right for you, the treatment begins with an ultrasound which is used to identify the vein as it travels from the ankle to the groin. We administer a local anesthesia to provide you with a comfortable experience and then slide an extremely small needle into the identified vein. A small wire is then passed into and up the vein path. Throughout the entire procedure, the ultrasound machine is used to help guide the wire to the very top of the vein, in the area of the groin.

After the ultrasound has confirmed the location of the vein, the laser is turned on and the vein is coagulated (or ablated) from the inside. This causes the walls of the vein to collapse and the vein is then ablated (removed) from the circulation.

**Laser Ablation** replaces "vein stripping", which used to be an in-patient hospital procedure typically done under general anesthesia with a hospital stay of several days. During this type of surgery, an incision was made in the groin area and in the ankle area. The vein was then surgically removed from the two ends followed by a prolonged recovery period.

You will be happy to know that **Laser Ablation** is a much easier procedure than vein stripping. It takes less than thirty minutes to perform and is done on an outpatient basis in our office. There is no pre-operative laboratory testing, no clearance appointments, and few post-operative restrictions. Many of our patients have commented that if they knew how easy and painless this was, they would not have waited so long to make the decision to take care of their vein issues.

Results are immediate with Laser Ablation and patients are encouraged to walk and resume full activity within one to two weeks.

Schedule your consult with one of our top NJ vein doctors at one of our convenient vein centers today.

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