Why Varicose Veins Come Back - and How to Stop Them

<p>Featured in the Sun on Sunday newspaper on 10 May 2026, and quoted in the I-Paper on 5 April 2026</p>
<p>"Why varicose veins come back - and how to stop them" could also be called "everything you would ever need to know about varicose veins!"</p><p>Mark explains why so many people get recurrent varicose veins after treatment - and what he has done to identify and correct these problems. He explains how veins work, which veins can go wrong, how they can be investigated and treated effectively. He also explains where many doctors, clinics, or hospitals cut corners, resulting in poor outcomes and early recurrences for patients.</p><p>Keeping it as simple as possible, he explains the science of vein treatments - and what to look out for! He includes a chapter on "Myths about Varicose Veins" and a final chapter on "Red Flags" to watch for when choosing a doctor, clinic, or hospital.</p><p>Follow the information in this book, and your chances of getting your varicose veins back again after treatment shrink to the lowest possible risk. </p>

Prof Mark S Whiteley is an internationally recognized expert in venous diseases including pelvic congestion syndrome related to pelvic venous disorders. He is one of the authors on the recent International Consensus Document on Pelvic Congestion Syndrome from the UIP. Mark qualified as a doctor in 1986 from St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and was a lecturer in surgery at the Unversity of Oxford 1995-8. He became a consultant vascular surgeon in 1998, moving to be a full-time venous surgeon in 2005. Mark performed the first endovenous surgery for varicose veins in the UK in March 1999 and started researching pelvic venous disorders in 2000. He invented the TRLOP procedure to treat perforating veins in 2001. He set up The Whiteley Clinic as a centre of excellence in venous disorders in 2002 and The College of Phlebology to share his knowledge with patients and other health care professionals in 2011. In 2019 Mark performed the first endovenous microwave treatment for varicose veins in Europe and in May 2019, was the second doctor in the world to treat varicose veins using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Echotherapy. In 2019 he set up The College of Phlebology International Registry so that doctors who join can benchmark their results against other doctors doing the same procedures, and patients can see who is getting acceptable results from their treatments. Mark continues to work to bring new ideas and technology to venous patients, to improve results and get the best outcomes possible.