I am very pleased to have been invoted to be an expert clinical lecturer at the LAHA - Laser and Health Academy.
http://www.fotona.com/en/center/news/?id=606
http://www.fotona.com/en/laser_health/academy/lecturers/
Having worked with Fotona, a company with an excellent history of research and development in lasers, I was very proud to be asked to speak at their meeting in Slovenia and then invited onto the LAHA.
This will help us at The Whiteley Clinic and Absolute Aesthetics to keep at the cutting edge of laser treatments - especially for veins, sweating, skin and hair treatments.
Friday, 12 June 2009
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Laser Sweat Ablation - LSA - Official Blog
We are pleased to announce that we have now set up the official Laser Sweat Ablation (LSA) official blog on:
http://lasersweatablation.blogspot.com/
The history of the early introduction and early cases are listed on this blog and will stay on this blog - however all of our new results and research will now be posted on the new official blog.
http://lasersweatablation.blogspot.com/
The history of the early introduction and early cases are listed on this blog and will stay on this blog - however all of our new results and research will now be posted on the new official blog.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Laser Sweat Ablation - LSA - Further Update
Our 3rd and 4th patients who have had Laser Sweat Ablation came to The Whiteley Clinic to be seen for their one week follow up today.
The third patient is a young lady who is actually 9 days post procedure today - (see photo).
The hair of her arm pits has fallen out as expected and she has not had any sweating from the armpits at all since the operation - although the official test will be performed at 6 weeks post procedure.
She has full range of movements of her arms without problems and the only adverse thing she has noticed so far is that the area has a few lumps under the skin - which is normal in the early stages after an operation.
The patient is back to a fully normal life - and has been for several days now. She will now not need to be seen again until her 6 week follow-up and sweat test.
The 4th patient is a young man who had very severe sweating. He had to come back today (third day after the operation) as I am away presenting research for the rest of the week.
He has had a bit more bruising - particularly of his left arm pit - the right one has very little bruising.
He took of his compression garment yesterday and some of the redness is left over from the compression.
He hasn't felt any sweating from either arm-pit and has good range of movements of both arms. He only needed some pain-killers the day after the surgery.
We are going to call him back to check him in a week or so but, as with all of our patients, he can call us at any time should a problem develop.
Interestingly, I have noticed another clinic in the South East offering "Laser Sweat Ablation". It is a GP run clinic and certainly the practitioner was not trained here.
As we introduced the procedure to the UK, and are still perfecting it, I would suggest anyone interested in having LSA - Laser Sweat Ablation - be very careful as to who is offering it and exactly what their training is - and what their results are.
The third patient is a young lady who is actually 9 days post procedure today - (see photo).The hair of her arm pits has fallen out as expected and she has not had any sweating from the armpits at all since the operation - although the official test will be performed at 6 weeks post procedure.
She has full range of movements of her arms without problems and the only adverse thing she has noticed so far is that the area has a few lumps under the skin - which is normal in the early stages after an operation.
The patient is back to a fully normal life - and has been for several days now. She will now not need to be seen again until her 6 week follow-up and sweat test.
The 4th patient is a young man who had very severe sweating. He had to come back today (third day after the operation) as I am away presenting research for the rest of the week.He has had a bit more bruising - particularly of his left arm pit - the right one has very little bruising.
He took of his compression garment yesterday and some of the redness is left over from the compression.
He hasn't felt any sweating from either arm-pit and has good range of movements of both arms. He only needed some pain-killers the day after the surgery.
We are going to call him back to check him in a week or so but, as with all of our patients, he can call us at any time should a problem develop.
Interestingly, I have noticed another clinic in the South East offering "Laser Sweat Ablation". It is a GP run clinic and certainly the practitioner was not trained here.As we introduced the procedure to the UK, and are still perfecting it, I would suggest anyone interested in having LSA - Laser Sweat Ablation - be very careful as to who is offering it and exactly what their training is - and what their results are.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Celebrity varicose vein diary - Eve Cameron in SHE magazine
The beautiful Eve Cameron (beauty editor and author) has written up her experiences of having her varicose veins treated at The Whiteley Clinic in this month's SHE Magazine - June 2009.
In the article - "Vein Hopes" on page 101 and 102 - Eve explains what made her decide to come to The Whiteley Clinic for her vein surgery.
She then goes on to describe the process that she went through - using EVLA (Endo Venous Laser Ablation), TRLOP (TRans Luminal Occlusion of Perforators - invented at The Whiteley Clinic), phlebectomies (removal of the surface veins) and finally sclerotherapy injections under ultrasound guidance.
Eve has published her own before and after photos as part of the article - showing the improvement that she obtained.
In the article, Eve Cameron does point out all of the things that are usually left out - the bits she didn't like and the cost!!!
However, the article is well worth the read as an unbiased diary of someone who has gone through The Whiteley Clinic protocol and seen our results for themselves.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
LSA - Laser Sweat Ablation - Early success of our improvements to technique
I have just seen the third laser sweat ablation patient treated here at The Whiteley Clinic.
Despite being only 48 hours after her procedure (picture on left 48 hours after surgery), she has minimal bruising, no pain and almost completely normal movement.
The changes in our technique as outlined in the previous post have made a huge difference to the post-operative recovery.
There is no sweating from either arm-pit - but of course this is still very early to be sure that the sweating has gone for good.
The most important finding now is the modification away from the procedure as taught has resulted in a completely different recovery - with almost no pain and bruising at all.
We will be repeating the sweat test in 6 weeks to check exactly how much the sweating has reduced by.
Despite being only 48 hours after her procedure (picture on left 48 hours after surgery), she has minimal bruising, no pain and almost completely normal movement.The changes in our technique as outlined in the previous post have made a huge difference to the post-operative recovery.
There is no sweating from either arm-pit - but of course this is still very early to be sure that the sweating has gone for good.
The most important finding now is the modification away from the procedure as taught has resulted in a completely different recovery - with almost no pain and bruising at all.
We will be repeating the sweat test in 6 weeks to check exactly how much the sweating has reduced by.
Monday, 18 May 2009
Laser Sweat Ablation - LSA - Update
Following all of the publicity surrounding the introduction of a new technique, there comes a time to sit back and reflect on the results.
In medicine, this is usually done through presenting cases and case series at research and clinical meetings - followed by publishing papers on the results in the medical press.
Nowadays, as there is such easy access for patients to find information via the internet, it is important that the public are also informed in addition to the more traditional methods of presenting results, as outlined above. It is essential that patients, prospective patients and the public in general have sufficient information to be able to make a decision as to whether a certain treatment might be suitable and so whether it might be worth booking an appointment with a specialist to find out more about that treatment or procedure.
This morning we have performed our third Laser Sweat Ablation (LSA). The patient left the clinic fit and well after a cup of tea, some 30 minutes or so after completion of the surgery.
However, shortly afterwards, I met our second LSA patient who has had a difficult post-operative course - hence the reason for this posting.
Although the original papers on this procedure have published the results and made the claims as outlined previously in this blog and associated websites (and hence in a lot of the press), our first two patients have not had the very quick recovery that appears to have been reported elsewhere.
Some of this may be learning curve of a new procedure. Some may be due to expectations having been raised higher than surgery can provide - after all, if you are having surgery on a sensitive area of skin, it is not going to heal instantly and so there will be a variety of symptoms of different severity that may continue until healing is complete - at about 3 - 6 months.
So then, without going into the same level of detail that we will be doing when we present our series at medical meetings, what have we learnt so far - and what have we changed already?
Our early findings:
Firstly - Laser Sweat Ablation (LSA) is a true walk-in walk-out procedure that can be performed under local anaesthetic in an operating theatre. There is no need for sedation or anything more than local anaesthetic.
Secondly - recovery is very variable. Both of our first two patients had considerable pain once the local anesthetic wore off.
Thirdly - both of the first two patients had a break down of the skin in the middle of the arm-pit after a few days. The scar tissue then thickened and tightened in both - in one patient excessively so causing a "pulling" sensation down the arm. Both found it hard (if not impossible) to raise the arm for the first few weeks post-operatively due to this tight scar tissue and the discomfort it caused.
One patient is through the early healing and four weeks later went off onto a year away, able to move without discomfort and with only a little sweat from the skin next to where the operation had been performed. The second has pulled a muscle on one arm which is probably an unrelated event, but this clearly hasn't helped the mobility nor discomfort on this side.
So how have we modified our approach?
Naturally we would not continue this procedure if we thought that all patients would get this level of discomfort from the procedure. In addition, other workers in this field have found they get good results - so therefore there must be modifications to the technique that can improve results and decrease complications.
So far we have:
1] Laser power - we reduced the laser power after the first case.
2] Delivery of laser energy to skin - we have changed the instruments we use and also the method of delivery of the laser energy to the sweat glands in the skin
3] Skin cooler - we now use a laser skin cooler that cools the outside of the skin whilst the laser heats the inside of the skin where the the sweat glands are situated
4] Clinical measurements - we are noting several measurements as we perform the LSA procedure, to identify the optimal treatment
5] Long acting local anaesthetic - we have introduced a final local anaesthetic injection at the end of the procedure that should last for several hours and give a better first night's sleep.
Conclusion:
As with all new medical procedures, there is a learning curve. Despite a full and thorough training, the first procedure for a particular surgeon and team rarely goes without hitch.
By listening to our patients feedback and discussing any complications or problems with:
- our whole team
- the manufacturers of the laser and equipment
- Dr Blugerman who developed the technique
- other workers in the field
we aim to make the learning curve as short as possible, and to optimise the Laser Sweat Ablation procedure to give our patients the best possible results with the minimum of complications or discomfort.
In medicine, this is usually done through presenting cases and case series at research and clinical meetings - followed by publishing papers on the results in the medical press.
Nowadays, as there is such easy access for patients to find information via the internet, it is important that the public are also informed in addition to the more traditional methods of presenting results, as outlined above. It is essential that patients, prospective patients and the public in general have sufficient information to be able to make a decision as to whether a certain treatment might be suitable and so whether it might be worth booking an appointment with a specialist to find out more about that treatment or procedure.
This morning we have performed our third Laser Sweat Ablation (LSA). The patient left the clinic fit and well after a cup of tea, some 30 minutes or so after completion of the surgery.
However, shortly afterwards, I met our second LSA patient who has had a difficult post-operative course - hence the reason for this posting.
Although the original papers on this procedure have published the results and made the claims as outlined previously in this blog and associated websites (and hence in a lot of the press), our first two patients have not had the very quick recovery that appears to have been reported elsewhere.
Some of this may be learning curve of a new procedure. Some may be due to expectations having been raised higher than surgery can provide - after all, if you are having surgery on a sensitive area of skin, it is not going to heal instantly and so there will be a variety of symptoms of different severity that may continue until healing is complete - at about 3 - 6 months.
So then, without going into the same level of detail that we will be doing when we present our series at medical meetings, what have we learnt so far - and what have we changed already?
Our early findings:
Firstly - Laser Sweat Ablation (LSA) is a true walk-in walk-out procedure that can be performed under local anaesthetic in an operating theatre. There is no need for sedation or anything more than local anaesthetic.
Secondly - recovery is very variable. Both of our first two patients had considerable pain once the local anesthetic wore off.
Thirdly - both of the first two patients had a break down of the skin in the middle of the arm-pit after a few days. The scar tissue then thickened and tightened in both - in one patient excessively so causing a "pulling" sensation down the arm. Both found it hard (if not impossible) to raise the arm for the first few weeks post-operatively due to this tight scar tissue and the discomfort it caused.
One patient is through the early healing and four weeks later went off onto a year away, able to move without discomfort and with only a little sweat from the skin next to where the operation had been performed. The second has pulled a muscle on one arm which is probably an unrelated event, but this clearly hasn't helped the mobility nor discomfort on this side.
So how have we modified our approach?
Naturally we would not continue this procedure if we thought that all patients would get this level of discomfort from the procedure. In addition, other workers in this field have found they get good results - so therefore there must be modifications to the technique that can improve results and decrease complications.
So far we have:
1] Laser power - we reduced the laser power after the first case.
2] Delivery of laser energy to skin - we have changed the instruments we use and also the method of delivery of the laser energy to the sweat glands in the skin
3] Skin cooler - we now use a laser skin cooler that cools the outside of the skin whilst the laser heats the inside of the skin where the the sweat glands are situated
4] Clinical measurements - we are noting several measurements as we perform the LSA procedure, to identify the optimal treatment
5] Long acting local anaesthetic - we have introduced a final local anaesthetic injection at the end of the procedure that should last for several hours and give a better first night's sleep.
Conclusion:
As with all new medical procedures, there is a learning curve. Despite a full and thorough training, the first procedure for a particular surgeon and team rarely goes without hitch.
By listening to our patients feedback and discussing any complications or problems with:
- our whole team
- the manufacturers of the laser and equipment
- Dr Blugerman who developed the technique
- other workers in the field
we aim to make the learning curve as short as possible, and to optimise the Laser Sweat Ablation procedure to give our patients the best possible results with the minimum of complications or discomfort.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Whiteley Clinic opening in Basingstoke - 28th April 2009
The Whiteley Clinic is opening a branch in Basingstoke - with the first clinic to be held on the morning of Tuesday 28th April 2009.
Building on the success of the clinic in Guildford, the Basingstoke clinic will start off with a once a week clinic, increasing as demand requires it.
At first, The Whiteley Clinic in Basingstoke will offer:
Building on the success of the clinic in Guildford, the Basingstoke clinic will start off with a once a week clinic, increasing as demand requires it.
At first, The Whiteley Clinic in Basingstoke will offer:
- Consultations for Varicose Veins , Thread veins, Phlebitis, DVT and Leg Ulcers
- Consultations for Hyperhidrosis (sweating) - including our new LSA
- Consultations for Arm and Leg swelling (lymphoedema)
- Vascular Health Screening - Ultrasound screening for Aneurysms and risk of stroke
- DVT scanning
- Specialised duplex scanning for varicose veins and vein diseases
In addition, our sister company Absolute Aesthetics, will also be opening at the same time. Consultation slots are available for assessments for:
- Fillers and other injectables for wrinkles and rejuvenation
- Removal of lumps and bumps and skin lesions (moles, warts, spots, cysts, lipomas etc)
- Facial red vein treatments
- Skin tightening with Thermage
- Laser liposuction
- Liquid face-lift (Sculptra)
- Hair removal (IPL and Electrolysis)
- Macrolane breast enhancement
Appointments:
The Whiteley Clinic and Absolute Aesthetics
Basingstoke at Assura Health and Wellness Centre
Dickson House Medical Centre
Crown Heights, Alencon Link
Basingstoke RG21 7TX
Tel: 01256 869407
e-mail:
info@thewhiteleyclinic.co.uk
and
info@absoluteaesthetics.co.uk
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Me and my surgeon - Laser Sweat Ablation in the Daily Mail
This morning an article appeared on our Laser Sweat Ablation procedure in The Daily Mail under the "Me and my surgeon" section.You can click on the picture on the left to read it in full.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Stripping varicose veins - who would have it done?
In the last week I have seen many patients who have re-grown their varicose veins after having had them stripped. It is unbelievable that in this day and age, surgeons still strip veins and patients still let them - and what shocked me more is that a recent study showed that despite our research, about 80% of surgeons still perform this barbaric (and often useless) procedure Click here for paper.
Tying of varicose veins was invented in the 1890's by Trendelenberg - and stripping the veins away was added the the procedure to make it more complete. Unfortunately, although it would seem logical to "remove the vein" to stop it coming back, this isn't what happens.
Unlike organs, such as the gallbladder, which you can remove permanently, veins are part of the body's connective tissue. This means that they are involved in the healing process. Thus when you injure yourself, the skin and connective tissue heals.
When a vein is stripped away, the body doesn't know it has been taken away by a surgeon - it thinks that the body has been damaged - and so it tries to grow the vein back again.
Prize winning research by us at The Whiteley Clinic, which was published in 2007 Click here for paper, shows that almost a quarter of people start growing the stripped veins back again within one year - and we are just about to present our latest research showing that well over three-quarters of people have grown the whole vein back again 5 years after stripping!!!
Put against this, we have already shown that 5 years after closing the same veins with heat using Whiteley Clinic procedures, NONE of the treated veins have re-opened.
With such a huge difference at 5 years between stripping (over 75% veins regrowing) and closing the veins with heat using Whiteley Clinic protocols (0% reopening), it would probably be unethical to perform a randomised study to re-prove the obvious - and which patients if told about the difference, would ever let anyone perform a stripping procedure on them?
It is very hard to understand why so many surgeons still offer stripping. Presumably most have not learnt how to perform the new techniques such as EVLA (endovenous laser ablation), VNUS Closure FAST, RFiTT etc.
It is even harder to understand why patients, with such ready access to information on the Internet, both through simple sites such as veinstripping.co.uk and veins.co.uk as well as scientific papers Click here for paper allow surgeons to offer such damaging surgery with such poor long term results.
Of course there is no law against this, nor is the doctor doing wrong, provided each patient has been fully informed of the alternatives to their stripping - even if the surgeon does not offer the alternatives themselves - and they are satisfied that stripping is really the best for them.
For my part, we have produced proof that stripping causes regrowth of the veins, and our alternatives have much smaller scars, allow return to work quicker, are under local anaesthetic and so allow walk-in walk-out procedures AND stop the treated vein opening up again in the future.
Certainly the patients that seek us out at The Whiteley Clinic having got their varicose veins back again having had stripping elsewhere have seen the problems that stripping can cause.
Tying of varicose veins was invented in the 1890's by Trendelenberg - and stripping the veins away was added the the procedure to make it more complete. Unfortunately, although it would seem logical to "remove the vein" to stop it coming back, this isn't what happens.Unlike organs, such as the gallbladder, which you can remove permanently, veins are part of the body's connective tissue. This means that they are involved in the healing process. Thus when you injure yourself, the skin and connective tissue heals.
When a vein is stripped away, the body doesn't know it has been taken away by a surgeon - it thinks that the body has been damaged - and so it tries to grow the vein back again.
Prize winning research by us at The Whiteley Clinic, which was published in 2007 Click here for paper, shows that almost a quarter of people start growing the stripped veins back again within one year - and we are just about to present our latest research showing that well over three-quarters of people have grown the whole vein back again 5 years after stripping!!!
Put against this, we have already shown that 5 years after closing the same veins with heat using Whiteley Clinic procedures, NONE of the treated veins have re-opened.
With such a huge difference at 5 years between stripping (over 75% veins regrowing) and closing the veins with heat using Whiteley Clinic protocols (0% reopening), it would probably be unethical to perform a randomised study to re-prove the obvious - and which patients if told about the difference, would ever let anyone perform a stripping procedure on them?
It is very hard to understand why so many surgeons still offer stripping. Presumably most have not learnt how to perform the new techniques such as EVLA (endovenous laser ablation), VNUS Closure FAST, RFiTT etc.
It is even harder to understand why patients, with such ready access to information on the Internet, both through simple sites such as veinstripping.co.uk and veins.co.uk as well as scientific papers Click here for paper allow surgeons to offer such damaging surgery with such poor long term results.
Of course there is no law against this, nor is the doctor doing wrong, provided each patient has been fully informed of the alternatives to their stripping - even if the surgeon does not offer the alternatives themselves - and they are satisfied that stripping is really the best for them.
For my part, we have produced proof that stripping causes regrowth of the veins, and our alternatives have much smaller scars, allow return to work quicker, are under local anaesthetic and so allow walk-in walk-out procedures AND stop the treated vein opening up again in the future.
Certainly the patients that seek us out at The Whiteley Clinic having got their varicose veins back again having had stripping elsewhere have seen the problems that stripping can cause.
Monday, 16 March 2009
BBC Online today - and an Italian article .....
Today the video of the first LSA - Laser Sweat Ablation - was put up on BBC online. You can view it on the link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7939141.stm .
There was also an article that appeared about me in the Italian press:
http://www.repubblica.it/2009/03/sezioni/scienze/sudore/sudore/sudore.html?ref=hpspr1 although my Italian is unfortunately somewhat limited!!!
I put all of my research publications, prizes and lectures on http://www.markwhiteley.co.uk/ but haven't managed to complete the laser sweating website - I had some questions e-mailed to me and I would like to have the answers to them up on the site before I publish it.
There was also an article that appeared about me in the Italian press:http://www.repubblica.it/2009/03/sezioni/scienze/sudore/sudore/sudore.html?ref=hpspr1 although my Italian is unfortunately somewhat limited!!!
I put all of my research publications, prizes and lectures on http://www.markwhiteley.co.uk/ but haven't managed to complete the laser sweating website - I had some questions e-mailed to me and I would like to have the answers to them up on the site before I publish it.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Working Sunday
After a very lazy Saturday, today (Sunday) is another work day.
Our banner advert was in the Mail on Sunday today (see picture) in the Health Section. Unfortunately I have only just noticed the mis-spelling of Venus Closure - rather than VNUS Closure!!!!
However, it is good to have reinforcement out their about our pioneering varicose veins surgery and laser sweat ablation surgery.
Tomorrow, the BBC Online is meant to be publishing a video on our Laser Sweat Ablation video - so the rest of today is going to be updating my personal site - www.MarkWhiteley.co.uk and www.laser-sweat-ablation.co.uk.
However, I will have to stop at 14:30 for the Rugby ....... I hope we play better this week!!!!!
Our banner advert was in the Mail on Sunday today (see picture) in the Health Section. Unfortunately I have only just noticed the mis-spelling of Venus Closure - rather than VNUS Closure!!!!
However, it is good to have reinforcement out their about our pioneering varicose veins surgery and laser sweat ablation surgery.Tomorrow, the BBC Online is meant to be publishing a video on our Laser Sweat Ablation video - so the rest of today is going to be updating my personal site - www.MarkWhiteley.co.uk and www.laser-sweat-ablation.co.uk.
However, I will have to stop at 14:30 for the Rugby ....... I hope we play better this week!!!!!
Friday, 13 March 2009
Article in Surrey Advertiser
Today the Surrey Advertiser ran an article on our first LSA (Laser Sweat Ablation) operation.The reporter, Vita Millers, had come to theatre and had watched the operation, speaking to Richard (the patient) before and during the procedure.
I have been updating the websites http://www.sweating.co.uk/ and http://www.armpit-sweating.co.uk/ and am trying to get a new one written, specific to this procedure. It will be called http://www.laser-sweat-ablation.co.uk/. I hope it will be live within a few hours.
However - after such a busy week - it might be a glass of wine and web site tomorrow - we shall see.....
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Interview for BBC online
This morning, Richard returned the The Whiteley Clinic, 2 and a half days after his LSA (Laser Sweat Ablation) operation.
He is returning to work at lunchtime today, having had a shower and removing his dressings.
There is a little bruising of the underarms - and he will wear his compression top (like a small waistcoat) for the next week or so.
However, his arms are fully mobile and with his normal clothes on, you would not be able to tell that he had had the surgery.
BBC Online came to film him on his return to the clinic today. I was asked to give a description of the surgery (see picture) and Richard was interviewed about his views and his recovery.
The full video will be on BBC online under health - probably being released next Monday.
Richard's fast recovery shows that LSA (Laser Sweat Ablation) is a true walk-in walk-out procedure.
He is returning to work at lunchtime today, having had a shower and removing his dressings.
There is a little bruising of the underarms - and he will wear his compression top (like a small waistcoat) for the next week or so.However, his arms are fully mobile and with his normal clothes on, you would not be able to tell that he had had the surgery.
BBC Online came to film him on his return to the clinic today. I was asked to give a description of the surgery (see picture) and Richard was interviewed about his views and his recovery.
The full video will be on BBC online under health - probably being released next Monday.
Richard's fast recovery shows that LSA (Laser Sweat Ablation) is a true walk-in walk-out procedure.
10 year celebrations of new varicose veins surgery
Last night, The Whiteley Clinic hosted a surprise party for me and Judy Holdstock, to celebrate our 10 year anniversary of performing the first keyhole operation for varicose veins in the UK. From that operation has sprung the whole revolution of the new walk-in walk-out vein surgery in the UK.The whole of The Whiteley Clinic team were there - including Mr Barrie Price, consultant vascular surgeon and Mrs Charmaine Harrison, vascular technologist, and Vicki Smith(http://www.absoluteaesthetics.co.uk/).
They were joined by many guests including:
Steph Cook MBE, olympic gold medalist in Sydney in the modern pentathalon - who used to be a research fellow at The Whiteley Clinic (see picture below)
Professor Brian Allyson and his wife
Mr Bryn Edwards and his wife
Miss Sovra Whitcroft - consultant gynaecologist of The Surrey Park Clinic (http://www.thesurreyparkclinic.co.uk/)
Dr Tony Lopez - consultant radiologist of The Imaging Clinic (http://www.theimagingclinic.co.uk/)
and many other friends.
I was also most touched that my brothers and sister travelled many miles to join me - Kim Jago, David Whiteley and Dr Andrew Whiteley.Lastly my 3 beautiful daughters also took time away from their exams to join us for our celebrations - Emily, Alice and Lucy.
The evening was a splendid affair with a fine address by Mr Barrie Price, and very funny speech by Dr Tony Lopez and a heartfelt talk from Judy Holdstock who has spent 10 years of her life working with me to perfect our techniques.
The clinic staff put on some wonderful arrangements including a montage of all the press articles about me and The Whiteley Clinic over the last 10 years - and fantastic food was provided by the Michelin Star restaurant - Drakes on the Pond (http://www.drakesonthepond.com/).
A lovely evening finished early enough for me to get ready for a day of operating today and a video for the BBC online this morning about our new Laser Sweat Ablation operation.
To see more photos please click on link:
>http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94751&id=630710451&l=47b47
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
10 year Anniversary of Keyhole Surgery for Varicose Veins in the UK
On the 12th March 1999, Judy Holdstock (chief vascular technologist at The Whiteley Clinic) and I performed the first VNUS Closure operation in the UK.
It was the first pinhole surgery operation for varicose veins in the UK - although the media have now started calling these sorts of operations "Keyhole" surgery operations for varicose veins. By doing this operation, we introduced this new sort of surgery into the UK.
So on Thursday, it will be our 10 year anniversary. In the last 10 years, we have developed the procedures and invented new techniques - such as our TRLOP technique - TRans-Luminal Occlusion of Perforating veins, won prizes and published our research.
Some of our work that should have changed the way veins are treated includes our research - published in July 2007 - that shows that the old "tie and stripping" of veins allows veins to grow back again. When compared to our results using VNUS (radiofrequency) or EVLA (Laser), none of the veins treated over the last 10 years has grown back and only one in 5,000 has opened again. in this one case, we did not stick to our Whiteley Clinic protocol and too little energy was used to close the vein.
Last year, several reports appeared in the press including some videos on TV, sowing some new keyhole surgery being "pioneered" at a London teaching hospital - your can still find one of these videos on the Internet. They show a surgeon using a technique called VNUS Closure FAST to treat a patient with varicose veins under local anaesthetic.
Unfortunately - they did not mention that the first VNUS Closure FAST in the UK was performed by Mark Whiteley and that the surgeon featured had previously undergone training at The Whiteley Clinic and had worked in a Whiteley Clinic franchise in Harley Street in 2008. The "pioneering" surgery had been going on at The Whiteley Clinic (as it still is) rather than the featured teaching hospital.
So today we took an advertorial in The Daily Mail in celebration of our 10 years - and to help people understand that not only were we the first to introduce these techniques to the UK - but we have continued to develop these techniques and introduce others, to make sure we offer our patients the very best results available from vein surgery.
Laser Sweat Ablation - LSA
Yesterday (9th March 2009) I performed the first Laser Sweat Ablation (LSA) operation in the UK at The Whiteley Clinic, Guildford.
The procedure had been announced in The Mail on Sunday on 8th March followed by the Telegraph website and in the Daily Star on Monday 9th March.
The laser sweat ablation procedure was invented by a brilliant plastic surgeon in Buenos Aires, Argentina called Dr Guillermo Blugerman who pioneered it in 2002. Guillermo is on the left of this picture.
He runs the B&S Clinica (http://www.clinicabys.com/) and he trained me in his procedure when I visited his clinic in 2008.
The operation went very well and the patient, Richard, walked home shortly after it.
The procedure was filmed and a reporter from the Surrey Advertiser was present throughout it.
Richard is going back to work on Thursday - 2 and a half days after the operation.
I explained about the operation live on BBC radio Essex this morning and was on Radio Southern Counties on Drive-Time today.
The procedure had been announced in The Mail on Sunday on 8th March followed by the Telegraph website and in the Daily Star on Monday 9th March.
The laser sweat ablation procedure was invented by a brilliant plastic surgeon in Buenos Aires, Argentina called Dr Guillermo Blugerman who pioneered it in 2002. Guillermo is on the left of this picture.He runs the B&S Clinica (http://www.clinicabys.com/) and he trained me in his procedure when I visited his clinic in 2008.
The operation went very well and the patient, Richard, walked home shortly after it.
The procedure was filmed and a reporter from the Surrey Advertiser was present throughout it.
Richard is going back to work on Thursday - 2 and a half days after the operation.
I explained about the operation live on BBC radio Essex this morning and was on Radio Southern Counties on Drive-Time today.
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