Spider Vein Injections
How to Get Rid of Spider Veins: Should I try Spider Vein Injections?
There are few words that can cause a chill to run down your back like the word “spider.” We’ve all encountered a large, unexpected guest in our house and jumped at the mere sight of its massive presence. You’ve never experienced real terror until you’ve unwittingly walked into a spider’s web and try to vigorously swat it off of your face. While we know that most spiders are harmless, they can still cause the hair on your arms to stand up if you catch one skittering across your kitchen floor.
If you’ve seen spider veins on your body, you might have exactly the same reaction! Vein doctors will tell you that unlike most harmless spiders, spider veins can indicate a deeper, underlying issue that may require spider vein injections. Only a vein expert can diagnose spider veins, and determine whether spider vein injections are right for you. Vein doctors such as the highly-trained professionals at the Vein Treatment Clinic of New York and Vein Treatment Clinic of New Jersey are spider vein injection specialists, and can help you gain confidence as you get rid of your spider veins.
What are Spider Vein Injections?
Spider veins injections are referred to as “sclerotherapy.” Your vein doctor will use a tiny needle to inject a medication called a sclerosant into your spider veins. This medicine irritates the walls of the vein and they stick together. Over time, the vein collapses and is reabsorbed by the body. This process can take several treatments to achieve a complete result. Sclerotherapy is mildly uncomfortable, but not painful and is perfectly safe when performed by a trained professional.
What are Spider Veins?
Spider veins and varicose veins both originate from the same underlying issue, which is called “chronic venous insufficiency”, also known as “venous reflux.” What you thought was simply a cosmetic annoyance actually signifies there is a deeper issue that would benefit from a consultation with a vein expert. Your veins are designed to bring used blood back to your heart to receive more oxygen, and then be re-circulated throughout your body. Veins have to fight against gravity to do this hard work, and are assisted by valves that keep the blood flowing in the correct direction.
However, when these valves become weakened, due to age, sitting or standing for long periods of time, pregnancy, or genetics, the blood slips back into the vein and pools. The pooling then manifests itself into larger varicose veins, or smaller spider veins, which resemble a spider’s web and are located much closer to the surface of your skin. The combination of all of these actions is defined as chronic venous insufficiency. Spider veins are easily visible, can be blue, red, or purple in appearance, and twist and turn underneath the skin’s surface. Vein doctors can diagnose chronic venous insufficiency, and identify spider vein injections that can be used to remove spider veins.
What are the Consequences of Spider Veins?
When you first spot a spider vein on your leg, you may mistake it for something else– perhaps an allergic reaction to a bug bite or a sunburn. However, spider veins do not disappear with just lotions and cream alone, because the underlying problem of chronic venous insufficiency has not been addressed by a vein expert. A great analogy to explain this condition is to think of chronic venous insufficiency like a leaky pipe trapped within a wall. When the pipe bursts, it stains the wall. By just getting cosmetic injections for spider veins, you’re simply painting over the water-stained wall, without actually fixing the leaky pipe inside.
Spider veins are not only visually unappealing, they can also cause physical changes. You may notice that your spider veins begin to feel heavy, achy, itchy, or appear ashy, and this is a result of the underlying issue of chronic venous insufficiency that needs to be addressed by a vein expert. The vein doctors at the Vein Treatment Center of New York and Vein Treatment Center of New Jersey are highly-trained vein experts who can diagnose chronic venous insufficiency, treat the “leaky pipe” that is causing your spider veins, and suggest spider vein injections that will work for you.
What is the Best Way to Remove Spider Veins?
Spider vein injections are the best way to treat chronic venous insufficiency, which in turn will combat your spider veins. Unlike cosmetic injections for spider veins, spider vein injections target the underlying issue of venous reflux which is causing your blood to not move in the proper direction. For spider vein removal, your vein doctor may recommend one of the following minimally-invasive methods:
- Sclerotherapy: This is the medical term for spider vein injections. Your vein doctor will use a duplex ultrasound to locate the area that is affected by venous insufficiency. Once this targeted area has been identified, your spider vein injection will be administered. What is the injection? Called Sclerosant, it is a salt-based solution that damages the innermost lining of the blood vessel, creating a natural clot. This clot then blocks the blood circulation in the affected vein, causing your spider veins to naturally disappear.
- Radiofrequency Ablation: Also known as “RFA”, your vein doctor will use ultrasound technology to insert an RFA fiber into the affected spider vein. Using heat-based thermal technology, the RFA fiber produces a reaction that creates sclerosis (hardening) and eventual collapse of the vein wall. This minimally-invasive technique should only be administered by a vein doctor, such as the vein experts at the Vein Treatment Center of New York or Vein Treatment Center of New Jersey.
- Venaseal: Also known as “vein glue”, the Venaseal glue acts within seconds to fuse the affected spider vein. With the damaged vein now sealed, blood is forced to re-route through healthier veins, creating a permanent solution to your spider vein problem.
If you’re starting to see spider veins appear on your body, don’t ignore the signals that your body is giving you. Contact the vein experts at the Vein Treatment Center of New York or Vein Treatment Center of New Jersey to discuss how their vein doctors can employ spider vein injections that will address your chronic venous insufficiency.