FAQs

40% of people suffer from vein problems – many of them without even knowing that their aches, pains, swollen ankles, discoloured skin or leg ulcers are actually due to veins not working properly in their legs. This means that although some people know they have varicose veins because they can see them, many people suffer from leg ulcers, clots in the veins, aching or swelling legs or skin damage around the ankles without even knowing that they are curable and these problems are preventable.

Phlebology means “the science or study of veins”. The College of Phlebology has been set up as a worldwide College that is accessible to everybody via the Internet, to inform patients about vein problems and what can be done about them, and to educate professionals as to what the latest treatments are and give them access to advice from other experts. The College of Phlebology is an independent online college that is not associated with any other professional or regulatory body in any particular region or country. The search facility on the College of Phlebology allows anyone to find their nearest phlebologist.

Simply go to the specialist search box on our homepage and type in your address or postcode (when you first visit the site, you may be asked by your internet browser to allow us to know your geographical location – this is so our website can automatically find the closest members to you without you having to enter details). The College of Phlebology’s specialist search will then identify members as close to you as possible. By using this facility you will be able to identify those members who only treat thread veins or use other treatments for the larger veins.

No. The whole ethos of The College of Phlebology is to promote the understanding of venous disease and to inform and educate both the public and healthcare professionals into all aspects of venous disease including the underlying causes of venous disease, the clinical problems caused by venous disease and the latest, and the best treatments for the different conditions. Such information and education is provided free to the public and to professionals outside of the “membership only” area. Healthcare professionals that treat thread veins may join The College of Phlebology at MCPhleb level (Member of The College of Phlebology), and healthcare professionals that treat varicose veins and the larger venous reflux problems may join The College of phlebology at FCPhleb level (Fellow of The College of Phlebology). More details can be found on our ‘Membership benefits and fees’ page. Once a Member or Fellow has joined and been accepted, they can then access the “membership only” area where additional educational material is available as well as features such as “ask an expert” and the latest news from industry relating to veins. These Members and Fellows join voluntarily and as such, are expressing a desire to increase their knowledge and skills into diagnosing and treating veins. The College of Phlebology encourages this and aims to spread good practice amongst its members. However The College has decided not to have a regulatory function or to impose its views or protocols on any Member of Fellow.

MCPhleb stands for Member of the College of Phlebology. The College of Phlebology grants current Members of The College of Phlebology the right to use these letters after their names. If their membership lapses, The College of Phlebology requires that these letters are not used any more. Members of the College of Phlebology are those who treat thread veins alone and do not perform more extensive procedures or surgery for larger veins. Every Member of The College of Phlebology has the opportunity to learn all of the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of venous issues as soon as they come out. Therefore they can tailor their treatments to provide the very best for their patients. You should check any health care professional that quotes MCPhleb after their name against our database on our online specialist search. If that person does not appear on The College of Phlebology’s database, they may be using the letters without permission and you should report them to The College of Phlebology via the “contact us” page.

FCPhleb stands for Fellow of the College of Phlebology. The College of Phlebology grants current Fellows of the College of Phlebology the right to use these letters after their names. If their membership lapses, The College of Phlebology requires that these letters are not used any more. Fellows of the College of Phlebology are those who treat varicose veins, thread veins, leg ulcers and the whole range of venous problems. Every Fellow of The College of Phlebology has the opportunity to learn all of the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of venous issues as soon as they come out. Therefore they can tailor their treatments to provide the very best for their patients. You should check any health care professional that quotes FCPhleb after their name against our database on our online specialist search. If that person does not appear on The College of Phlebology’s database, they may be using the letters without permission and you should report them to The College of Phlebology via the “contact us” page.

All current Members and Fellows of the College of Phlebology are entitled to use the letters MCPhleb and FCPhleb after their name to signify their membership or fellowship of The College of Phlebology. No other persons are permitted to use these letters and any Members or Fellows that leave The College of Phlebology are not entitled to use these letters once they have left. If you see a healthcare professional or indeed anyone quoting these letters after their name or in their professional title, you can check whether they are current Members or Fellows of The College of Phlebology by searching for them on our specialist search database. If they do not appear on this database, then they should not be using these letters. In such an instance, please let us know via the “contact us” page. Alternatively, if you have any concerns, contact us directly and we will be able to investigate whether the professional in question has a valid membership.

If you need any information about varicose veins or related venous problems, you will find three pages under the ‘For Patients’ tab on our home page that detail the different veins that may encounter issues, the conditions that can occur, and the most suitable treatments for them. These will then take you to detailed pages for each individual vein, condition or treatment. You can also use the ‘search’ function in the top right hand corner of any page.

No. The aim of The College is to promote understanding of venous problems as well as to inform and educate both public as well as Members and Fellows. As The College does not have any regulatory role, and does not impose its views or protocols on any Member of Fellow, it cannot guarantee any treatments actually performed by its Members or Fellows. However by providing both information and access to educational materials and our panel of experts, Members and Fellows are able to get advice from leaders in the field if they desire.

The College of Phlebology is not a regulatory body and as such, complaints about the professional conduct of any Member or Fellow of The College of Phlebology should be directed to the professional body in the relevant country. All practitioners should be able to provide you with a complaints procedure including their professional body. The College of Phlebology reserves the right to remove Membership or Fellowship from any Member or Fellow that brings The College of Phlebology, or phlebology itself, into disrepute. As such should any such complaint be upheld by a regulatory body, you should inform us through our “contact us” page to enable us to investigate as to whether the member of fellow should be removed from The College of Phlebology.

If you feel that any of the information provided by The College of Phlebology is incorrect, please contact us via the “contact us” page. A member of our advisory board will then consider your point and instruct any changes to be made should they agree. If you have any specific questions about veins, vein conditions, vein treatments etc then please use the specialist search facility and contact your local MCPhleb or FCPhleb for more information.

Every effort is made to try to ensure that all information provided by The College of Phlebology is as accurate as possible. However, phlebology is a rapidly advancing field and as such there are a great many different opinions between different experts and between practices in different countries. In addition new techniques and new results from existing techniques are always being published, changing the way phlebology is practised and our knowledge of this exciting field. Therefore if you feel that any information provided by The College of Phlebology is not accurate, we provide an open forum for discussion and are more than happy to consider any objection.