STEPHANIE DOYLE

By day, Dr. Richard Bragg cares for the veins of patients throughout Central Florida. By night, he takes care of Seminole County Medical Society business matters, his family, and occasionally, his hand — as in a game of Texas hold ‘em.

The native of Baton Rouge, La., likely learned his poker face techniques while growing up in New Orleans. He attended Louisiana State University for his undergraduate and medical school education. After graduating in 1992, he and his wife, Susie, moved to Orlando to complete a residency in family practice at Florida Hospital. A few years later, he joined a large primary care group practice.

It was during the mid-1990s that Bragg’s wife asked him a simple question: “Can you get rid of my spider veins?”

Sure enough, he fixed her right up, along with countless others, after deciding to sub-specialize in vein and cosmetic medicine and receiving extensive training from some of the world’s leading experts.

In 1998, the Braggs opened Florida Vein Care & Cosmetic Center. Co-founder and president of the center, Susie Bragg earned a nursing degree in 1989 from Kennesaw State University and practices under her husband, providing an array of cosmetic procedures including Botox, Restylane, Juvederm and Cosmoplast.

Together they also have two children — Payton, 11, and Delaney, 8.

As a board-certified vein specialist and an active member of the American College of Phlebology, Bragg is a nationally recognized leader in the field of vein care, with more than a decade of experience and approximately 40,000 treatments under his belt.

As a faculty member of the National Procedures Institute, Bragg trains physicians in proper techniques of sclerotherapy, ambulatory phlebectomy, and endovenous laser treatment (EVLT). He remains board-certified in family practice medicine and serves as an adjunct faculty member for the Florida Hospital residency program. He volunteers several hours each year educating physicians, nurses and the public about venous disease and cosmetic medicine and was recognized by the Florida Medical Association as a distinguished physician and “a physician who cares.”

This year, Bragg also became president of the Seminole County Medical Society, which represents more than 230 physicians, a number he would like increase — the larger the membership number, the more physicians he can tap into help lobby in Tallahassee.

“The insurance companies have plenty of lobbyists up there,’’ he pointed out.
Members of the medical society are politically involved on state and national levels. Nationally, society influence comes through the American Medical Association (AMA) and representatives in the Florida Medical Association’s (FMA’s) delegation to the AMA. On the state level, the Seminole County Medical Society works closely on legislative and political issues with the FMA. The legislative process directly impacts the medical profession and individual physicians can make a difference, Bragg noted.

In his own field, Bragg clearly is making a difference with his patients. A typical day includes visiting with five or so new patients for vein problems, and performing at least one endovenous laser treatment, a newer treatment in his specialty. The minimally invasive procedure treats varicose veins without scarring. Laser energy shrinks the vein walls so blood cannot flow through the faulty veins, thereby eliminating the bulging of the vein at its source. During a typical day, he also will perform several ultrasounds for venous insufficiencies and ultrasound-guided injections for spider veins.

Vein care is a rapidly changing field, Bragg said.
“The biggest change is not having to put patients into the hospital anymore for stripping procedures,’’ he noted. Today, the procedure is performed through a tiny 3-millimeter hole, with local anesthesia and no stitching — a “huge change.’’

When it comes to misperceptions about his specialty, there’s a big one, he pointed out, particularly by physicians. “The biggest misperception by physicians is thinking that complaints of pain by the patients are not true,’’ he said.

In fact, their pain is real, stemming from congestion of fluid of blood in the lower extremities, he said, adding, “in a small way, the skin muscle nerves are not getting the oxygen they are used to.”

Patients, on the other hand, have their own top misconception when it comes to vein care. They often worry that they should not have a vein removed because they may need it in the future for a heart surgery or other procedure.
“They don’t want to take it out,’’ he said. “But you wouldn’t use that broken, stretched out vein anyway.”

Some of his most remarkable cases involve patients with exceptionally large veins — up to 3 centimeters compared to the more average 8 millimeters — or those who have an extraordinary number of branches.

“It’s like a roadmap of cobblestone streets,” Bragg described. “I’ve had to break their procedure up into four or five sessions.”

When he’s not mapping out his next procedure, Bragg often is on the golf course, or, yes, playing a round of Texas hold ‘em. Occasionally, he even wins. His last game found him $5 in the black.



April 2008