Do you see small red, purple or blue veins on your legs or face? Clinically, these are known as venulectasias or telangiectasia and are commonly referred to as spider veins or thread veins. They are ever dilated and visible just under the surface of the skin. Thought to be triggered by increased pressure in the affected veins, spider veins are commonly seen on buttocks, thighs, calves and ankles. While sclerotherapy has always been the most recommended spider vein treatment, laser therapy is now becoming the gold standard cure. Some victims tend to live with thread veins as long as they are not causing pain. Others go to the best vascular vein clinic to get rid of spider veins because of cosmetic reasons.
So, what makes spider veins form?
Although the main reason why thread veins form is unknown, there are factors known to increase one’s risk. First, pregnant women tend to run the risk of having this vascular problem because of increased blood flow in their pelvic area. Pregnant women will mostly suffer from vulva/vaginal varicose veins and the good news is that these ones don’t require treatment. Once the baby is born, these abnormal veins will disappear on their own.
Females are more likely to see a NYC vein doctor than males because of the experiences they go through all through their reproductive years. Other factors that can lead to thread veins include minor injury, old age, obesity and standing on feet for several hours without taking breaks. Some people are also prone to telangiectasia because of the genes they carry. If you have these, go to a vascular vein clinic in your area and have yourself scrutinized. Generally, though, any condition that will cause pressure increase in the veins could cause spider veins.
How will I know I have spider veins?
These small varicose veins may appear under the surface of the skin without causing severe symptoms. When symptoms are there, they include mostly cramping pain at night. You might think that you are just having a normal leg cramp caused by dehydration or fatigue. The truth, however, is that thread veins can be responsible for your night leg cramps and should be investigated at the top vascular vein clinic in NYC. In addition to leg cramps, spider veins are known to trigger heaviness and fatigue in legs. They can also make your lower leg and ankle area swell after a long day at your workplace.
Another main symptom is itching, which tends to worsen when the weather is hot. The best thing with spider veins is that they can improve without proper medical spider vein treatment. For instance, one can wear compression stockings, walk every day, take regular breaks when working and elevate their feet every day after work. These are simple actions that can make your thread veins go away without necessarily being seen by a NYC vein doctor.
How are spider veins identified?
Once you go to a vascular vein clinic, the doctor will identify your telangiectasia via a venous duplex ultrasound test and direct observation. The test itself will allow the NYC vein doctor to see exactly how the blood is flowing in your veins and determine the cause of your varicose veins. Then they will go on and determine the right spider vein treatment method to offer you.
It is important to make sure that you are dealing with a well-educated and experienced vein doctor though. If you have no idea where to locate this professional, give Dr. Juan Montoya a call today. She is one of the best vascular specialists America has and boasts massive success in her medical career.
How a NYC vein doctor will treat your spider veins
After receiving a positive diagnosis, your vein doctor will determine the right way to cure you. Almost all doctors will follow a non-medical path first. So your doctor might ask you to wear compression stockings for a number of weeks prior to scheduling yet another medical check up. Along with medical-grade stockings, you might be required to elevate your feet after work, exercise, and take regular breaks when working if you must sit down or stand up for hours.
If your abnormal leg veins do not get better, medical spider vein treatment options may be offered. There is no single vascular vein clinic that will prescribe surgical removal of small varicose veins. Even if you have large and swollen varicose veins, your vein specialist will still recommend less invasive treatment techniques before surgery. Without further ado, here are two main spider vein treatment methods all doctors would offer you.
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Endovenous laser ablation therapy
Once you get to the top vascular vein clinic to receive EVLA (endovenous laser ablation) treatment, your doctor will begin by giving you a local anesthesia shot. This will get rid of pain during the process. Then, he or she will focus a beam of light on the affected vein. Due to this, the nearest skin tissue and healthier veins will not be burnt. As the laser light heats up the vein, it collapses and closes. The real results are seen after a period of 4 to 6 weeks when the treated veins disappear. Generally, vein doctors use the Nd:YAG laser device to offer this spider vein treatment.
A hand-held device, the Nd:YAG has a cooling tip that minimizes discomfort during treatment. It pierces the skin and accesses the affected superficial vein. The heat it generates causes the blood to clot inside the vein, and this leads to vein wall collapse and closure. As EVLA is a progressive spider vein treatment, newer laser options are expected to deliver accurate doses of light energy to every blood vessel without hurting the surrounding skin structures.
Concerning pain during laser ablation therapy, we can honestly confirm that it is never felt. That’s because the area being treated is numbed with a local anesthetic drug before the start of the procedure. All the same, most patients complain about a slight tingling feeling when the laser device begins to release heat. This sensation cannot cause harm because the current lasers boast a cooling system at the tip. It stops the tip from getting extremely hot and causing burns.
If your vascular vein clinic recommends laser ablation to you, there a few simple things you will want to avoid. First of all, make sure that you stop drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes for a whole week before the EVLA procedure is done. Next, avoid exposing the areas to be treated to direct sunlight or taking aspirin. And when the day comes, do not apply a lotion, cream and/or moisturizer to the areas that will receive this spider vein treatment. Finally, wear loose clothes to allow easy access to the parts needing treatment.
It is important to know that all patients are thoroughly evaluated prior to receiving EVLA therapy. If your thread veins are symptomatic, your doctor will do further investigation to locate larger varicose veins and remove them. If none are found, then the doctor will remove your spider veins mostly to improve your physical appearance, boost your self-esteem and alleviate your discomfort.
If you have a large area to be treated, the vein expert will space out treatments so as to be received four to six weeks apart. If more spider veins form in the same area, more laser ablation sessions will be arranged. You might be wondering if there side effects to be expected. Immediately after this spider vein treatment, you will notice a red area with a cat-scratch appearance. This should not worry you as it is known to disappear in just 48 hours.
As for serious complications of EVLA, they are rare and minimal. Blood clots are a possibility, but they are a rare phenomenon. Perhaps you are wondering if laser ablation therapy is the ultimate cure for spider veins. While it does remove these veins, it doesn’t stop new ones from forming. So the only thing you can do is to go back to the vascular vein clinic whenever spider veins recur.
Once you receive endovenous laser ablation therapy, you will notice a more youthful and healthy glow afterwards. The skin complexion of the affected area will also become more even and attractive. Lastly, you might want to know how much each EVLA session will cost. The average cost for this therapy is thought to be two hundred to four hundred dollars per session.
· Sclerotherapy
Another method of eliminating unwanted spider veins is sclerotherapy. Unless you are currently pregnant or are suffering from skin infections, fever, unmanageable diabetes or DVT, sclerotherapy is a safe spider vein treatment method. Prior to this procedure, patients do not have to prepare in any special ways. However, as with laser therapy, patients are asked to stop smoking and taking aspirin a few days prior to receiving sclerotherapy shots.
During this spider vein treatment, your thread veins will be injected with a liquid or a foamy chemical substance. Usually, a very tiny needle is used to pierce the skin and the deposited chemical substance (sclerosant) does its work of irritating the veins. Irritated veins then collapse and turn into a scar tissue that disappears later on. It is important to carry out sclerotherapy in a trusted vascular vein clinic near you because the procedure must be done properly and safely to be effective.
About the number of sessions you might require, this will depend on the size of the area being treated. As most people have a lot of spider veins, doctors are able to offer fifteen to twenty injections per session. Each session will last about thirty minutes and after this, sterilized dressings might be placed over the injected sites. The entire leg might be covered with an ace bandage too, which should be left intact for two to three days.
Its work is to alleviate swelling and pain. If more sclerotherapy sessions are necessary, you will come back to the vascular vein clinic every seven days. Expected side effects are bruising, swelling and pain. The bruises are known to go away in two to three weeks and do not affect how the victims walk.
Comparing endovenous laser therapy and sclerotherapy
If you have been offered these two spider vein treatment techniques and are in a dilemma, here is why laser might be a better option.
- It is time-saving in the sense that it takes people a very short time to receive complete laser treatment.
- It does not damage the surrounding skin tissue as much as sclerotherapy does.
- As local anesthetic is used before the procedure begins, laser therapy does not cause pain.
- Recovery period is usually shorter and there is almost zero downtime.
- It has fewer side effects and complications.
The effectiveness level of the modern foam sclerotherapy is higher though, explaining why it is being used to treat larger varicose veins while laser ablation is avoided. Even if laser therapy seems to have more pros than sclerotherapy, we would advise you to accept the technique that you vascular vein clinic will recommend.
What to do after receiving treatment
The very first thing to remember is your appointments with your NYC vein doctor. Ensure that you attend all your future appointments. Next, keep on wearing your compression stockings and get new ones if the current ones are not fitting properly. Other conservative preventative measures include losing excess weight, walking regularly, taking regular breaks if standing up or sitting down for hours and raising your feet above your heart’s level.
If you notice that new spider veins or varicose veins are emerging, call your vein doctor immediately. This is to ensure that these are treated before they start producing complications like leg ulcers, blood clots, bleeding and more. As there are enough treatment approaches today, you should avoid living with varicose veins of any size. Even if you are not bothered by their appearance, it is important to know that they are there because of a dangerous disease—venous reflux disease. Visiting a vascular vein clinic early enough can keep you from developing severe complications later on.