Spider veins are an annoying cosmetic defect. These delicate red lines are a common sign of age — they make it hard to wear makeup or look professional. Luckily, there are multiple treatments available today that you can use to remove them.
These various spider vein treatments all have unique strengths. While you can get good results with just one solution, combining spider vein treatments can get you even better outcomes. Here’s what you need to know about how to get rid of spider veins as quickly and effectively as possible.
Why Combining Spider Vein Treatments Is More Effective
Every spider vein treatment has a type of vein that it treats best. Some work better on large veins, while others are more effective on fine lines and networks of veins. If you have more than a single spider vein, then one type of spider vein removal probably won’t work equally well on all of them.
If you’re researching how to get rid of spider veins, know that using multiple treatments together is the best way. A vein specialist can use a technique that works well on large veins and then switch to a different method that can handle fine lines to clean up the rest. This can also reduce how many spider vein treatments are necessary since every mark will be treated with the right therapy.
Think of it as something similar to washing your car. A carwash will get remove a lot of dirt, but it can miss details. On the other hand, scrubbing your car by hand will ensure you get everything but it takes a long time. When you get your car washed and detailed, you get everything cleaned up all at once. Using multiple methods together gets you better results the first time.
How Spider Vein Treatments Work
Spider veins are tiny blood vessels near the surface of your skin that are broken or permanently dilated. These blood vessels can’t contract anymore to push extra blood away. The red lines you see are caused by too much blood being close to the surface of your skin.
These veins don’t go away because they don’t actually hurt your body. Blood can still flow through them, so your body doesn’t realize that something has gone wrong. That means that you need to treat them if you want them to disappear.
Spider vein removal takes advantage of your body’s normal healing processes. Your body can easily absorb damaged blood vessels, but only if they are blocked and blood can’t flow freely. Spider vein treatments do just that — they block these blood vessels.
Spider vein removal techniques encourage the extra blood in these vessels to coagulate or become solid. That blocks off the vein and causes your body to break it down and create new and healthy blood vessels. As the spider veins are reabsorbed by your body, they disappear from your skin.
Remember, these veins are tiny and already damaged. Blocking them off just lets healthier blood vessels in the area take over while your body heals.
3 Best Treatments for Spider Veins
There are three main treatments you can get for your spider veins. Using them together is more effective than using any of these alone. Here’s what you need to know about these techniques and how they can work together.
1. Sclerotherapy for Spider Veins
Sclerotherapy is the most direct treatment for spider veins. In this therapy, your vein specialist may numb the area around your spider veins. Then they take a fine needle and inject a special solution directly into your problem vein. This solution causes that specific vein to immediately collapse and seal shut.
Sclerotherapy is a quick and easy treatment that can be done in-office. It’s one of the oldest forms of spider vein removal. However, it may take multiple injections to fully work. It’s best for large marks and “feeder” blood vessels, which supply blood to a network of spider veins.
2. Laser Treatment for Spider Veins
Laser treatment is a more modern form of spider vein removal. This technique uses medical intense pulsed light (IPL) lasers to directly destroy spider veins. The laser both breaks down the blood vessels and coagulates the blood within them.
Laser treatments can be done in-office. Tiny spider veins sometimes disappear entirely after just one laser treatment. However, it takes multiple appointments for lasers to remove larger vessels. On its own, laser therapy is best for fine veins and networks of veins. Some people find laser treatment slightly uncomfortable — they might feel something like a mild sting — but it’s typically minor and short-lived.
Many doctors choose to use laser treatments in combination with sclerotherapy. The injections cut off feeder veins while lasers clear up fine lines.
3. VeinWave Treatment for Spider Veins
The cutting edge of spider vein removal is VeinWave, also known as ohmic thermolysis. This revolutionary, FDA-approved technique uses targeted heating to clot extra blood. Your vein specialist places a superfine needle into your veins. The VeinWave machine then gently heats your problem marks with targeted microwaves, destroying them.
VeinWave treatments can be effective on large and small veins alike. However, they work best on veins that are too small for sclerotherapy. Many doctors are turning to VeinWave because it’s a more comfortable and more effective alternative to laser therapy. Like laser treatments, VeinWave is often used alongside sclerotherapy to get rid of large and small spider veins at the same time.
Get the Best Treatment for Spider Veins
You don’t need to stick with just one treatment for your spider veins. Instead, you can take advantage of all of them. Working with a vein care specialist who understands how to combine different techniques can get you results as soon as possible.
If you’re ready to remove your spider veins for good, reach out to Medicus Vein Care today for your free consultation. You can discuss your concerns and the treatments you want. Whether you want sclerotherapy, laser treatments, or VeinWave, Medicus Vein Care’s expert medical team can help. Take back your skin and your pride as soon as possible with Medicus Vein Care.
