My Spider Veins Are Embarrassing: What Are My Treatment Options?

As board-certified vascular experts who offer a full scope of minimally invasive treatment solutions for problematic veins, our team at Vascular Vein Centers knows that in most cases, the most bothersome thing about spider veins is their appearance.

Although being able to get rid of unsightly spider veins is reason enough to prompt most people to seek specialist care, many are just as worried about whether untreated spider veins will: 

• Get worse or cause pain 
• Spread or sprawl further 
• Elevate varicose vein risk
• Gradually slow circulation

Read on as we discuss how weblike spider veins develop, explain how we can help you get rid of them in no time flat, and explore ways to prevent their recurrence. 

All about spider vein formation

Spider veins are sprawling red, blue, or purple “webs” of damaged surface veins and capillaries that appear just beneath the skin. This visible latticework of vascular abnormality occurs when an area of interconnected blood vessels swells, distorts, or ruptures. 

Although spider veins can appear anywhere, most occur in one of two places: 

Nose and cheeks

Excessive sun exposure is the most common cause of facial spider veins, which typically appear along the nose and/or cheeks. These tiny swollen veins and burst capillaries can also occur with a skin condition called rosacea, or from lifestyle factors like alcohol consumption.  

Lower extremities

Lower extremity spider veins typically emerge along the calf, shin, thigh, or behind the knee. Even though they’re smaller, milder, and more superficial than varicose veins, they develop in much the same way — through vascular dysfunction and reduced circulation. 

Like the large leg veins (i.e., tree trunks) to which they’re connected, small surface veins (i.e., limbs) and tiny capillaries (i.e., branches) work against gravity when you’re upright. This extra strain can weaken their internal valves, slowing blood flow and causing the surrounding vessel wall to dilate and distort. Sometimes, the capillaries at the ends of a swollen “vein branch” burst.   

How we get rid of spider veins

If you have weblike, dilated veins marring your skin, you’re in good company: About 80% of men and 85% of women have visible spider veins or reticular veins on their legs. Spider veins are less than a millimeter in diameter, while reticular veins measure one to three millimeters.

 Luckily, we can get rid of unsightly vascular “spiderwebs” with a single minimally invasive vein ablation treatment. Using either an FDA-approved chemical agent or painless heat energy, vein ablation irritates the inner lining of the targeted veins, causing them to swell shut and collapse. Your blood flow reroutes itself, and the treated vascular web fades from view.   

Let’s take a closer look at our two main treatment options for spider veins:  

Visual sclerotherapy

As the gold-standard treatment solution for both lower extremity and facial spider veins, visual sclerotherapy is also effective for small- to mid-sized varicose leg veins. With this vein ablation technique, we use a thin needle to inject a sclerosing solution directly into the unwanted spider vein network. 

 Varithena® is one type of sclerosing agent we offer at Vascular Vein Centers. This advanced form of sclerotherapy uses an FDA-approved microfoam medication to collapse spider veins quickly and painlessly from the inside out.   

Endovenous laser therapy

If your spider veins are accompanied by a larger varicose vein, ultrasound-guided endovenous laser therapy (EVLT) may be a more comprehensive treatment approach. With this technique, we use a tiny incision and a thin catheter to deliver painless thermal laser energy (heat) directly into the unwanted veins, causing them to swell shut and collapse.  

 Like sclerotherapy, EVLT comes with virtually no down time — you can walk as soon as it’s done and resume your usual routine the following day.   

Avoiding spider vein recurrence

Because we can successfully resolve most spider veins with sclerotherapy, we typically reserve EVLT for more complex cases that also involve larger vein issues. Either way, you can expect to attain excellent vein-clearance results that last.   

To help you prevent spider veins in the future, we may recommend: 

• Daily sun protection measures to safeguard delicate facial skin
• Weight loss and exercise to improve lower extremity circulation 
• Compression stocking use if you’re prone to leg vein problems

Ready to say goodbye to spider veins? We can help. Call or click online today to schedule an appointment at your nearest Vascular Vein Centers office in College Park of Orlando, Waterford Lakes of East Orlando, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Davenport/Haines City, or The Villages, Florida.