Articles by Thomas Brassel, MA, Marketing Analyst

Articles by Thomas Brassel, MA, Marketing Analyst 2012

Have questions about Varicose Veins and Spider Veins? Vein Experts Can Help!

Are you one of the many individuals who have experienced an abnormality in your legs that you can’t clearly identify? Do you experience unexplained swelling or pain in your legs? Have you seen a doctor that treats venous diseases or conditions, but still have questions? Vein Experts (www.veinexperts.org) is a vein registry that is dedicated to connecting patients and vein professionals, and more importantly is here to help answer your questions.

Vein Experts: Our Mission Founded in 2011, the mission of Vein Experts is to educate patients and medical professionals about venous disease, treatment, and technological advances.

This information can help patients better understand their condition and available treatment methods.

Additionally, Vein Experts connects patients with top quality medical professionals in the field of venous disease. The user-friendly interface will help patients identify a local, board certified physician!

Vein Experts: A Wealth of Resources Vein Patient Resources is dedicated solely to educating patients about venous disease and treatment. Vein Experts also offers patients the unique opportunity to ask one of the nation’s leading vein specialists their unanswered questions without an appointment. Ask Dr. Bush allows patients to submit their questions, and receive a response from Dr. Ronald Bush usually within 24 hours.

Bush Venous Lectures (www.bushvenouslectures.com) is an online resource for vein professionals, offering online training courses, and a professional blog where physicians can share their experiences. The Bush Venous Lectures blog provides patients the opportunity to read what the top physicians in venous disease are discussing, as well as pose questions to this specialized medical community.

Vein Experts Wants to Help!

Vein Experts is here to provide the patient with information that can help them make the best decision regarding their health. With vein professionals in more

than 95 countries coming together to provide the patient with their knowledge and expertise, patients are sure to find the answers they are seeking.

We care about patients and their health!

Should you have any questions today, please feel free to contact us by clicking here.

Spider Veins – Ohmic Thermolysis Treatment Spider Veins – What Are They?

Spider veins, also known, as telangiectasias are small, dilated blood vessels that appear near the surface of the skin. Spider veins tend to be red or blue in color, and can be painful, itchy, and potentially bleed.

Spider veins are generally caused by an increase in pressure in veins close to the skin from increased pressure in the deeper veins. (other causes include hormone changes, overexposure to sun, and other injuries). Their presence may suggest a greater venous insufficiency as the underlying cause.

This insufficiency will need to be addressed by a physician prior to treatment of the spider veins and you may need an ultrasound.

Traditional Treatment – Sclerotherapy Treatment of spider veins traditionally involves the use of sclerotherapy.

Sclerotherapy involves the injection of a liquid or foam solution into the spider vein, causing the targeted vein to clot, scar, and eventually shrink away. Multiple treatments can be necessary, and patients should expect bruising, discoloration, and clotting in the treated veins.

Sclerotherapy may have complications, although they are minimal. You need to discuss this treatment with your doctor. Other techniques have been developed that can be used alone or in combination with sclerotherapy. One of the other treatments that can be used is called ohmic thermolysis.

Ohmic Thermolysis Ohmic thermolysis is a relatively new treatment for spider veins. In this treatment, a small needle is inserted into the vein. The heat that is produced causes the vessel to fuse together without damaging the surrounding skin.

Relatively few complications exist with this procedure, and while tracts may be visible initially, they typically disappear within 2-6 weeks. Ohmic thermolysis is especially useful for spider veins that are difficult for sclerotherapy.

Vein Experts and Bush Venous Lectures are proud to be partnered with VeinGogh to support the use of the VeinGogh ohmic thermolysis system. With the new Bristle technology developed by Dr. Ronald Bush, and available exclusively through VeinGogh, physicians will be able to clear vessels greater and cause less trauma to surrounding tissue. This results in greater comfort and safety for the patient, while allowing the physician greater control of the procedure.

Conclusions While sclerotherapy is still considered the “gold-standard� for treating spider veins, it may not be right for all patients. New advances in technology allow for alternative methods of treatment to be available to physicians. Ohmic Thermolysis is a minimally invasive treatment for spider veins that uses heat to collapse the vessel wall while leaving the outer layers unaffected. The VeinGogh Ohmic Thermolysis System combined with Bristle technology represent an optimal alternative method for the treatment of spider veins, increasing comfort for patients, and greater control for physicians.

Social Media Marketing: What Is It? Social Media Marketing (SMM) refers to the process of using social media sites (ex. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to reach out to social media users and attract attention to a business/cause. This form of marketing arose from the desire to capitalize on the increasing amount of user activity on these sites to raise business awareness. By effectively using SMM, advertisers can not only be continuously connected with their current clients, but also increase their perspective client pool through current client connections – at a much lower cost than traditional advertising methods.

Social Media Marketing: How Does It work and Why Should I Care?

Social Media Marketing is a low cost way for businesses to advertise their services to current and future clients. As online communication between people has increased, user interactions on social media sites have become the new “word of mouth”. By creating and maintaining an active business page, businesses can attract attention to their services and potentially grow their clientele.

Social Media Marketing works by setting up business pages on social media sites that not only advertise services offered, but can be used to provide important information to clients (i.e. discounts, new advances in the field, etc.).

These business pages can present the same information as traditional forms of advertising such as highlighting the advantages of the business’ services, and promoting the business’ expertise. Social Media Marketing has the potential to help businesses gain a competitive advantage in their respective field. By connecting with the business, users can be notified of business updates increasing user awareness. Additionally, the awareness of the business is further spread to the user’s already existing connections increasing visibility. If users repeat business updates, further awareness of the business is generated. Lastly, users have the ability to connect their personal website to their social media pages, resulting in an increase in search engine optimization. Combining all these steps, SMM works to increase the visibility of the business, potentially increase the volume of clients, and revenue for the organization.

Social Media Marketing & the Physician Social Media Marketing is fairly new in the world of healthcare, as physicians seek to find a balance between advertising clinics on social media sites and respecting the privacy of their clients. By having a social media business site available for clients to connect to, physicians provide clients with the choice of whether they want to associate themselves with the page. Periodic updates on these sites reminding clients of the services available, as well as user activity within the field (ex. new technological advances, publications, conferences, etc.), will generate attention that can lead to an increase in business.

How Vein Experts Can Help Vein Experts members have access to a low cost Social Media Marketing

program (http://www.veinexperts.org/social-media.asp). This program is specifically targeted to help participating physicians develop professional social media sites, and manage updates that will increase clinic visibility and business.

Vein Experts can help physicians capitalize on this emerging market.

New Venous Ulcer Treatment – Terminal Interruption of the Reflux Source

(TIRS) Understanding Venous Ulcers Venous ulcers are sores that are often very painful and that usually occur on legs. Although the exact cause of venous ulcers is not yet known, it is believed that these wounds occur when venous valves that regulate blood flow do not function correctly. The malfunctioning valves allow for a build up of pressure that overtime can break down tissue resulting in a painful wound that needs to be treated as soon as possible. Venous ulcers are known to be chronic wounds, reoccurring over time and needing to be treated repeatedly.

Traditional Venous Ulcer Treatment Treatment of venous ulcers focuses on relieving the pressure that has built up in the vein. The most commonly practiced venous ulcer treatment is compression therapy. Compression therapy involves the use of elastic bandages to apply external pressure to the legs, counteracting malfunctioning venous valves. Compression stockings can also be provided to patients, allowing for continued treatment that can increase healing rates provided the patient is compliant with physician guidelines. However, despite these measures, the cause of the ulceration is not being treated, and over time the ulceration can reoccur.

TIRS – A Better Treatment?

The Terminal Interruption of the Reflux Source (TIRS) technique goes beyond traditional venous ulcer treatments, and attempts to target the cause of the ulceration. The TIRS technique treats veins that are in close proximity of the venous ulcer, operating under the theory that the ulceration is being locally manifested by neighboring veins. Using foam sclerotherapy, a non-invasive process by which a vein is injected with a foam solution that causes the target vein to shrink and dissolve over time, the vein(s) causing the ulceration are eliminated. Patients treated using the TIRS technique have experienced increased healing rates, and longer periods between recurrences.

Conclusions Venous ulcers are painful, chronic wounds caused by malfunctioning venous valves. Treatments such as compression therapy can alleviate the pain, but do not remedy the cause of the ulceration. The TIRS technique is a safe, non-invasive treatment that targets the veins that are believed to contribute to the ulceration, resulting in the elimination of pain, faster healing, and greater time intervals between reappearance of ulcers.

By Thomas Brassel, Marketing Analyst For more information about the TIRS technique, please email Peggy Bush, at pbush@veinexperts.org or admin@veinexperts.org

MD’s: Click here to see Dr. Bush’s article: New Technique to Heal Venous Ulcers: Terminal Interruption of the Reflux Source (TIRS)