Spider Vein Treatment Can Change The Look Of Your Legs and Face
With the number of causes of varicose veins and spider veins, it seems almost inevitable that you’ll get those little red, purple, and blue lines that twist and turn just under the surface of the skin on your legs and face.
We’re not kidding when we say there are so many causes to these unsightly skin imperfections. Doctors say factors that could predispose someone to developing spider veins include:
- Heredity. They run in your family!
- Lots of standing in your job. Nurses, hair stylists, teachers, and factory workers definitely stand a lot at work.
- Hormone changes. Pregnancy, menopause, postmenopausal hormonal replacement, and even birth control pills change your hormones.
- A history of blood clots. We don’t choose our health conditions, but this one can cause you to have visible spider veins.
- And more!
It’s no wonder that women in the Pittsburgh area are seeking spider vein removal and varicose vein treatment to get their faces and legs back to their normal look. There are a few options available when it comes to spider vein treatment, and you need to know all of them so you can make an informed decision about which one is best for you.
Wear Support Stockings for Spider Vein Treatment
Support stockings are relatively simple garments you can wear to help ease spider vein symptoms and development. You can get them at most any surgical supply store or drugstore in different styles, including below-the-knee, above-the-knee, and pantyhose styles. The downside is that you now have to wear these special undergarments, which can be uncomfortably tight. Plus, they do nothing for facial spider vein treatment!
Make Lifestyle Changes to Improve Spider Veins
Practicing good skin hygiene, losing weight, and walking more can help treat and prevent the development of varicose veins and spider veins. Cosmetic Laser Centers can help you with improving your skin hygiene with several non-invasive options. However, if you already have an extensive network of spider veins running through your legs or face, these lifestyle changes might not be enough to correct them to your satisfaction.
Spider Vein Treatment for Legs and Thighs
If band-aid fixes or surgical procedures aren’t what you’re looking for when it comes to spider vein treatment, consider making an appointment at a medical office, like Cosmetic Laser Centers. We offer several options for facial spider vein treatment, and therapies for spider veins on your legs.
The most common treatment we offer is Sclerotherapy. This is a widely accepted and safe procedure for the treatment of spider veins on the thighs and legs. The procedure has been in use for more than 80 years and has been proven to be highly effective.
Sclerotherapy uses small needles to inject a gentle solution directly into the visible vein. The solution irritates the lining of the tiny blood vessel, causing it to collapse and stick together. Eventually, the body reabsorbs them, making them disappear.
This spider vein treatment is mildly uncomfortable, and procedure time varies depending on how many areas need treatment. Typical procedures take 20 to 30 minutes, and you can get back to your daily life with minimal downtime. You can see results after several weeks post-treatment.
Facial Spider Vein Treatment
Facial spider vein treatment options use light and lasers to reduce the appearance of the undesired visible veins. These devices deliver thermal energy and trigger spider veins to spasm and close, similar to the way spider veins on the legs respond to sclerotherapy.
Cosmetic Laser Centers offer two of these devices: IPL® M22™ and Fraxel® laser resurfacing. Both require multiple treatments, spaced apart by a few weeks, with minimal downtime. However, you should avoid the sun and other UV light sources before and after treatments.
IPL® M22™ VascuPlus+™ gives you targeted treatment of vascular lesions on your face, particularly facial spider veins, while also correcting the effects of photoaging and sun damage.
For your treatment with IPL®, we’ll first spread a cold gel onto the area of concern before applying the device’s handpiece to the skin. This handpiece delivers flashes of bright light in pulses. This causes facial spider veins to heat up and shut down before your body reabsorbs them.
Fraxel® laser resurfacing is a fractional laser. Fractional refers to the way that for every zone of skin actively treated, there are surrounding areas of skin left untreated. In other words, only a fraction of the skin (generally up to 20%) is treated in one session. By only treating targeted areas in one session, the treatment is more tolerable than traditional laser therapies and allows for a faster recovery.
Fraxel® creates microscopic treatment columns within the targeted area and triggers the body’s natural healing process to trigger the production of new collagen and healthy skin cells. Although there is some discomfort with treatment, we can apply a topical anesthetic prior to treatment and use an air cooling device to make it even more tolerable. You may need to practice a strict wound care regimen for the first three to four days after treatment.
At Cosmetic Laser Centers, we offer both non-ablative and ablative treatments, depending on the level of treatment your skin needs. Ablative lasers essentially create wounds to remove the outer layer of skin. Non-ablative lasers are non-wounding and stimulate collagen growth. This type of laser is less invasive and requires less recovery time than ablative lasers. Give us a call so we can help identify which type of laser treatment is right for you.
Varicose Vein Treatment in Pittsburgh
Because Cosmetic Laser Centers does not treat varicose veins, you can learn more about them from our partner, Vein Institute of Pittsburgh.
Visible veins under the skin are so common, but you don’t have to live with them! Cosmetic Laser Centers, in Pittsburgh and surrounding communities, can help you take back your leg and facial skin from unsightly spider veins. Contact us today at 724-935-4200 to get started.