Ericka Brooke said after years of suffering she had one of her legs treated for varicose veins.
"I couldn't sleep at night with the pain. My legs ached all the time," said Ericka.
And the procedure to fix it back then came with the fear of more pain.
But that was many years ago.
She finally went to a vein treatment center and found a new procedure that changed her painful situation.
"Within the next day, I didn't feel any pain. It was like my legs weren't heavy or anything," said Ericka.
That's when Dr. Carlos Hamilton, an endocrinologist, used Varithena for her bulging veins.
The treatment starts with an ultrasound to help find the vein and then a needle injects a specially designed foam to block the vein from the inside.
Dr. Hamilton, said this will redirect the blood and eliminate pain, pressure, and swelling in legs.
"Some people have pain, some people have itching, burning, there's just a variety of issues that go along with that," explains Dr. Hamilton.
Closing off the veins could decrease your chances of a more severe health problem, blood clots.
"What we're really doing is just getting the blood out of the deep vein and letting it get the blood like it's supposed to and just closing off the leak back into the leg," explains Dr. Hamilton.
Ericka is happy with the results mostly because she said she's sleeping without pain.
"It made a big difference and made a real big difference, and now I'm able to get a good night's sleep without any pain," says Erica.
Doctors say in milder cases exercise and compression stockings may help ease the discomfort of varicose veins.
