If you have spider veins, you have plenty of company. Data suggests nearly everyone has at least one of these tiny, weblike veins by middle age, and many people have several.
Also called telangiectasias, spider veins are a circulation disorder. They’re damaged blood vessels that appear red, blue, or purple under the skin. Researchers aren’t sure what causes them, but they may result from valve disorders inside larger veins or localized inflammation.
Fortunately, spider veins are rarely serious. But they’re unattractive and can cause symptoms like pain, crawling sensations, burning, itching, or cramping. The good news: Spider veins can be treated with injections (sclerotherapy) or state-of-the-art laser therapy.
Best Impression Med Spa in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, is a leading provider of laser therapy for spider vein management, helping women and men enjoy clearer, healthier-looking skin and find relief from uncomfortable spider vein symptoms.
In this post, Robert Mirabile, MD, Vivian Hsu, MD, and the team at Best Impression Med Spa explain how laser therapy works and how to tell if it’s a good choice for your spider veins.
For many years, sclerotherapy was the only medical therapy regularly used to treat spider veins. Sclerotherapy remains an appropriate choice, but in recent years, laser treatment has become a popular alternative.
Lasers emit highly focused beams of intense laser energy. During spider vein treatment, we focus those energy beams on damaged veins. Your skin absorbs the laser energy, damaging the vessel walls and preventing future blood flow.
Because the energy is so precisely targeted, laser treatment affects only diseased veins, leaving surrounding tissue unharmed. Over time, the treated vein is absorbed and removed via your body’s natural waste disposal system.
Before your treatment, we evaluate your spider veins and review your medical history to make sure laser therapy is the best option to achieve the result you want. Next, we describe each treatment step so you know what to expect.
The procedure itself is quick. Once we target the vein, the laser device emits bursts of focused energy. You might feel a mild snapping sensation or warmth as your skin absorbs this energy.
Afterward, expect the area to be slightly tender or swollen, and your skin may be pinkish, similar to a sunburn. These effects clear up quickly, leaving you with clearer skin. There’s no downtime, and most people go right back to their regular activities after treatment.
Another benefit of laser therapy is it can be repeated. In fact, larger veins may require more than one treatment to eliminate them.
Laser therapy can be a good choice for most spider veins, including small ones close to the surface of the skin and visible facial veins.
To learn more about laser therapy and other spider vein treatments, call 610-272-8821 or request an appointment online with the team at Best Impression Med Spa today.
