Superficial leg veins, or spider veins, are the tiny red, purple, or blue veins that show up near the surface of your skin, most often on the face, legs, ankles, and feet. You can, however, get them almost anywhere on your body.
Although spider veins are rarely a health concern, the providers at Sublime Aesthetic Professionals understand how self-conscious or embarrassed these unsightly lines can make you feel. That’s why we offer different options for treating spider veins at our East Grand Forks, Minnesota, office.
Many of our patients wonder if there’s a way to stop spider veins before they appear. Keep reading, and take a moment to find out!
Is it possible to prevent spider veins?
People develop spider veins when the tiny one-way valve that allows blood flow into a capillary wears out or gets stuck. With a malfunctioning valve, blood pools and makes the normally invisible vein stand out as a dark blue, red, or purple line through your skin.
Scientists are still researching why some people get spider veins while others do not. This makes it tricky to know exactly how to prevent them from developing.
The medical community does know certain factors are highly correlated with the development of spider veins, including pregnancy, injury/trauma, sun exposure, hormonal birth control, and weight gain. The condition seems to run in families, too.
Although there’s no sure-fire way to completely prevent spider veins from forming, there are steps you can take to minimize your risk:
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Exercise regularly
- Wear sunscreen
- Don’t sit with crossed legs
- Wear support stockings/leggings
- Try not to remain seated or on your feet for long periods
- Elevate your legs when you can
You should also choose supportive shoes instead of high heels to avoid developing spider veins on your ankles, feet, and calves.
What if I already have spider veins?
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, spiders appear. If you’re tired of covering up unsightly spider veins, we have good news. The providers at Sublime Aesthetics Professionals offer two safe and effective treatments for minimizing the appearance of these unwanted veins: noninvasive laser treatments or minimally invasive sclerotherapy.
Excel® VTM laser treatments
For very small spider veins, too tiny for other treatments, noninvasive, pain-free Excel V laser treatments offer a way to help you say goodbye to even the smallest spider veins—without harming the healthy skin and tissues that surround them.
Excel V works by gently heating the spider veins. The heat energy makes the vein walls collapse, and they eventually die. Your body’s lymphatic system then removes the destroyed spider veins with other natural body waste, like dead cells.
Injectable sclerotherapy
Injectable sclerotherapy uses a chemical irritant that causes the walls of your spider veins to collapse, as with laser treatments. Your Sublime Aesthetics Professionals provider uses tiny needles—too small to trigger bleeding—and uses them to inject the solution into the targeted veins.
Learn more about preventing or treating spider veins by scheduling an appointment online or over the phone at Sublime Aesthetic Professionals in East Grand Forks today.