Until very recently, you would never have spotted Birds of a Feather star Linda Robson by the pool without a sarong. So self-conscious was the 64-year-old Loose Women presenter of her spider veins that she’d only ever appear in her swimming costume if her legs were shrouded with an extra layer of protection.
“When I was younger, I was perfectly confident about my body,” says Linda. “But since my pregnancy with my third child Bobbie, who is now 26, I became increasingly conscious of the veins on my legs and it really started to gnaw away at my self-esteem.
“I always felt uncomfortable on the beach and by the time I appeared on I’m A Celebrity in 2012, I’d go to crazy lengths to hide them, which didn’t do wonders for my self-confidence.
“When I went into the jungle, my luxury item was my sarong, which I wore every time I got into the shower as I definitely wasn’t going to look like Myleene Klass. Charlie Brooks would hold the sarong around me so that the cameras couldn’t see my veins.”
Linda feels her confidence issues are made worse by her television career.
“My sister, who has varicose veins, just gets on with it, but because I am in the public eye I’ve never felt right about mine,” she says candidly.
“I paid to have a course of microsclerotherapy done in my early fifties and I felt much better for it afterwards.”
Unfortunately for Linda, while effective, the treatment – which involves the veins being injected with a chemical, sclerosant, which makes them shrivel up and disappear – doesn’t prevent further thread veins cropping elsewhere. So it’s not a permanent solution.
“As well as simply being a byproduct of ageing, they can be caused by standing on your feet for too long and since I turned 60 I’ve climbed Ben Nevis, jumped out of an aeroplane and swum with sharks,” Linda says, by way of explanation for her new collection of thread veins.
“Having loads of hot baths apparently doesn’t help either and I hate showers. I also do a lot of running around cleaning because I’ve got OCD, so it’s no surprise that I’ve developed more.”
A confidence-draining Loose Women campaign finally led Linda to seek further treatment.
“We were shooting billboard posters for this Body Stories campaign,” explains Linda, “First I was looking at Kaye Adams, who has the legs of an 18 year old. Then we all started looking over at Frankie Bridge saying, ‘I ain’t standing next to her’ and I said, ‘I don’t mean to be rude Frankie, but there’s no way I’m being photographed next to you’.
“I felt like a big Oompa Loompa and so much more self-conscious about my body, particularly my veiny legs, than I had the first time we’d shot the Body Stories campaign, before Frankie joined the show.
“I’m not normally a vain person and apart from plucking my eyebrows and chin hairs I’ve not had anything done, but after the show I thought, ‘If you can make yourself feel a little bit better about yourself, then why not?’.”
So Linda decided to give a second course of microsclerotherapy a go.
Harley Street’s vein centre consultant interventional radiologist Dr Thoraya Ammar, who performed Linda’s procedure, says: “Although thread veins rarely have a major effect on physical health, they can have a significant impact on confidence and self-esteem, which in turn has a negative impact on mental wellbeing and quality of life.
“Thread veins can cause patients to be very mindful of what they wear in order to hide their legs and can also limit healthy activities such as swimming, so treatment can be life-changing and restore patients’ confidence.”
Linda adds: “First, the doctor drew all over my legs to mark the veins that she was going to remove, then used a really fine needle to inject a chemical that makes them vanish.
“There’s no anaesthetic but it doesn’t really hurt. It’s like a bee or a wasp sting. You wear compression stockings for a week afterwards and have to avoid hot baths.
“I had about 10 spidery veins, mostly on the top of my legs, but after four microsclerotherapy sessions the veins were completely gone and my legs looked better than ever.
“Psychologically it’s been a real boost to my self-esteem, especially after the last few years and my breakdown in 2018.
“My OCD was at its peak then and although I still love cleaning, now I’m only washing my duvet once a week, not once a day.
“When I had my breakdown, I was drinking to mask my uncomfortable feelings but I haven’t touched alcohol for three years and I feel better than ever. Having my thread veins removed has added to that. I’m nothing like as self conscious.”
Linda really felt the weight had lifted on a family break this summer.
“I went on holiday to Cyprus in August with my daughter, her husband and two of my granddaughters and blitzing my veins had totally boosted my confidence – though I’m not quite ready to go parading around in hot pants just yet!”
- For more information on microsclerotherapy visit veincentre.com
