Treat Your Spider Veins This Halloween!
It’s trick-or-treat season, and the house is all decked out with broomsticks and pumpkins and ghosts. Even your legs are getting into the spirit…with…spider veins?!? Hold up! Those webs of unsightly veins are certainly not welcome…Halloween or not! What are spider veins, and what can you do about them?
What are spider veins?
Spider veins are tiny red or blue lines (veins) located near, and visible through, the skin. They occur more often in women, and affect up to 30-60% of adults. Spider veins are different from varicose veins, which can cause an aching pain or discomfort, as well as a tingling or burning sensation, and bulge out. Spider veins often are painless, and are just a cosmetic issue. They most often occur on the veins in the leg or buttocks, but may occur on the face, chest, or other body parts as well.
What causes spider veins?
Causes of spider veins include heredity, pregnancy, standing or sitting for long periods of time, age, and gaining or losing weight quickly.
Spider vein treatment
Remember, if you’re feeling pain or the veins are swelling, they are likely varicose veins, rather than spider veins. In that case relief can be obtained through putting up your legs every so often, but that’s often not practical for the modern woman or man, so compression stockings can help. Lifestyle changes such as weight loss if needed and increasing walking can help as well. Still, that’s not a guarantee they’ll go away, so seeking treatment for spider veins is common. Sclerotherapy is one option. Asclera is a prescription medication that is injected into the veins and is less painful and more effective than the old saline injection route.
Here at the Cosmetic Injectables Center we also offer the Cutera Excel V laser. This laser can be adjusted to safely and effectively treat spider veins as well as a number of other issues. Small laser bursts are sent to the veins which cause them to shrink and disappear over time.
So if you’re tired of the spider veins in your legs or elsewhere, and are in the Los Angeles area, come see us here at the Cosmetic Injectables Center!