If you’ve experienced spider veins, then you know they are unsightly but not usually painful. Hare, we break down what causes them and the most effective way to treat them.
What are spider veins?
Spider veins are tiny damaged veins that appear most commonly on the legs and sometimes the face. They can be red, blue and purple in color and appear as lines, branches, clusters or webs, which is how they got their name. They are usually not painful.
What causes them?
Spider veins occur when valves inside the vein stop working properly. Arteries carry blood away from the heart, while veins carry blood back to the heart. The one-way valve in the vein closes once blood passes through it to prevent blood from flowing backward. Once a valve weakens or becomes damaged, the blood struggles to flow back toward the heart and begins to pool inside the vein. This causes bulges, which results in spider veins.
What about spider veins on the face?
These spider veins happen as the result of tiny blood vessels bursting in the face, usually caused by sun damage or increased pressure.
What’s the best treatment for spider veins?
Sclerotherapy is a highly effective treatment for spider veins. This consists of using tiny needles to inject an FDA-approved sclerosant solution into the diseased vein to irritate the walls of the vein and cause them to collapse. This then closes off the vein and reroutes any remaining blood to nearby, healthier veins. The treated vein instantly diminishes in appearance, and the body will scavenge and remove the unused vein over the next few weeks after treatment.
Treatment usually takes only a few minutes, depending on how many veins need to be targeted. While most of the spider veins instantly fade with treatment, some trace appearance will dissipate over the next several weeks.
Once spider veins are treated, they are gone for good. To learn more about spider vein treatment and whether it would be right for you, call 817.893.2699 for a consultation.