Spider Vein Treatment

Vein Affiliates Answers Common Questions Regarding Spider Veins

What are spider veins?
Spider Veins are a very common occurrence and are caused by heredity, pregnancy, weight and occupations that require you to stand on your feet for long periods of time or sitting for long periods of time. Your vein specialist will evaluate you using an ultrasound to make sure there is isn’t a deep component causing your spider veins. If that is the case, that must be treated first before treating the spider veins to ensure that your spider veins will resolve.

How are spider veins treated?
Spider veins are typically treated with a combination of laser, light, or radiofrequency and injections. Injections or sclerotherapy is the gold standard for the treatment of spider veins. There are 2 FDA solutions used for sclerotherapy and they are Sotradecol and Polidocanol. Both are widely used and very safe. Sclerotherapy causes the vessel walls to become damaged and then the body reabsorbs the damaged spider vein much like it would a bruise. The laser, light or radiofrequency are frequently used in conjunction to decrease the size of the vein and cause a double injury to that treated vein. By incorporating these modalities we are able to reduce the total number of treatments.

How many treatments will I need for my spider veins?
The average patient requires 3-5 sessions that are spaced 1 month apart. Each procedure takes about 20 minutes with minimal to no discomfort. Compression stockings are worn for a period of time after each treatment to minimize bruising and decrease healing time.

What are the complications for spider vein treatment?
Sclerotherapy is very safe but with any procedure, there are some minor potential risks. The most common is mild itching and bruising. This itching resolves in a matter of minutes and the bruising resolves in 5-7 days. There have been rare reported cases of allergic reaction and on occasion, a small sore can occur at the injection site that resolves in 4-6 weeks.

Do the spider vein treatments hurt?
When doing sclerotherapy, a very small needle is used and many people hardly know they are being injected. The solution is not painful and this makes sclerotherapy a very tolerable procedure. If laser, light or radiofrequency devices are being used, these are hot, quick and you will leave with no residual discomfort. If any pain medication is needed after the treatments, Advil, Tylenol or Ibuprofen is all that is required.