Keep Your Legs Looking Their Best - Sclerotherapy for Spider Veins: Notes from a San Francisco Bay Area Dermatologist

Fall is just around the corner, which makes it a perfect time to start planning your treatments on unwanted spider vein on your legs.  Not only are we putting away shorts and skirts, but starting in fall will allow plenty of time for a few sessions to get your legs looking more youthful by next summer!

Spider veins are mild version of varicose veins.  They are small, superficial blood vessels that typically appear on our legs and ankles.  Spider veins can look like unconnected short lines or can be connected in a branching pattern covering a small to large area.  They are primarily a cosmetic concern and generally do not cause pain or discomfort.

Treatment for spider veins is called sclerotherapy.  In this simple and comfortable procedure a special sclerosing solution is injected with a very fine needle into the blood vessels.  This causes them to seal up and then fade within a few weeks.  During this period of time, the areas that have been injected may appear discolored, often brownish or bruised.  This discoloration is temporary and fades along with the vessels.  The number of treatments varies from one to several depending on the extent of the veins and are usually 6 weeks apart.  Occasionally a vessel may need more than one injection, or similar veins may eventually appear again in the same area.

Laser treatments may also be used to treat spider veins on the legs.  A dermatologist or nurse practitioner can assess your specific case and provide the most effective treatment.

The causes of spider veins are varied and include heredity, age, long periods of standing, hormonal changes, excess weight and pregnancy.  To help prevent or keep spider veins from worsening you can wear support pantyhose or compression stockings if you are on your feet a lot.  Exercise and a healthy diet are also important.  If there are larger, underlying varicose veins, you may want to seek treatment on those first with a vein specialist before chasing the spider veins.

Many patients waiver on whether or not its worth the time, money and effort to work on leg veins.  In my experience, patients that were on the fence and went ahead with treatment end up feeling quite satisfied with the results.  Even just “cleaning up” a few of the larger patches makes patients happier and less self-conscious.  There is never an age where you will not want to wear shorts or skirts, so starting treatment sooner than later will help keep your legs looking great now and in the future.  Contact our office for more details on sclerotherapy and to see if its right for you!

Tags: bay area dermatologist, san francisco bay are dermatologist, san francisco dermatologis, sclerotherapy, spider veins

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under procedures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.