If you are looking for facts about spider veins, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we will briefly define spider veins, review the symptoms and risk factors, and go over some other important information about spider veins and vein disease.
It is important to be aware of the various implications that any health problem can pose. The symptoms can range from burning to painful irritation and can last longer if proper treatment is not conducted.
Spider veins are a symptom of vein disease and usually do not cause any symptoms. They are thinner and smaller than varicose veins and look similar to a spider web and are visibly discolored. Spider veins can appear on any part of the body, including hands and face, but they most commonly appear in the legs from increased pressure and decreased blood flow.
Up to 60% of Adults Suffer From Spider Vein Symptoms
At USA Vein Clinics, we are dedicated to providing all of our patients with the highest quality, most innovative care available. That’s why we make it our duty to ensure all patients are educated with the most up to date information regarding their condition and treatment.
What exactly does the phrase “spider veins” mean?
Spider veins, which are also known as telangiectasia, are small superficial thread-like veins nearer to the skin surface. They most often occur on the back and sides of the thigh and just below the knee.
These veins are more distinctive in fair-skinned people, and more common in females. The spider veins may appear radically and they have no characteristic symptoms. They can appear as a number of particular bluish or red spots on the legs.
Is it possible for spider veins to feel painful?
If your spider veins are accompanied by restlessness, swelling, heaviness, itching, burning, or general leg pain, you may have an underlying condition known as venous insufficiency, or vein disease. This issue will need to be treated before you can go through spider vein treatment. Spider veins will continually reappear if the underlying condition is not addressed and corrected. Once you undergo vein disease treatment, your doctor will be able to administer spider vein treatment later on in your treatment process.
What causes spider veins?
The cause of spider veins is not known. However, common risk factors are obesity, gender, individuals who are on their feet for a long time, after minor trauma, pregnancy, and sometimes after the use of contraceptives. There may be a recognized trait for such spider veins. In basic knowledge, any condition that will increase the pressure on the veins can lead to spider veins. Spider veins can occur due to similar factors that cause varicose veins and acute venous insufficiency.
Some of the circumstances include:
Genetics
Most women who have inherited spider veins have mothers and/or female relatives with similar vein condition. Weak vein walls and valves, as well as a shortage of vein valves, seem to be hereditary features and may play a significant part in determining who develops spider veins and at what age.
Pregnancy
During pregnancy, and to a lesser amount also during periods, fluctuations in the female sex hormones (especially estrogen and progesterone) cause relaxing of the vein walls and valves. This makes women’s veins more liable to stretching and enlargement with increased pressure.
Prolonged Standing or Sitting
Prolonged standing and sitting create a great amount of pressure to develop in the leg veins. In both conditions, the calf muscles are inactive and therefore cannot help push the venous blood to return to the heart. This makes the blood to pool in the veins, therefore ensuing in increased pressure on the walls of the veins.
Injury
Furthermore, for some people spider veins emerge after an injury or a trauma to the vein, such as after a broken ankle, medical surgery, a car accident or a sports injury. Bruising, which is more or less like a pooled blood, is the outcome from broken veins under the skin, and hence can also lead to an inflammatory response, which in turn, can result in enlarged bulging out veins. Sometimes, spider veins can appear many years after the wound has been cured.
Gender
In men, spider veins are usually the consequence of blow-outs and outbursts from nearby varicose veins. High pressure from these veins causes adjoining superficial veins to stretch, enlarge and change in color. These spider veins are usually darker and have larger broadness than the spider veins present in women’s bodies.
Treatment for Spider Veins
Modern technology has brought about varied types of innovations and medical science too has greatly progressed. The most important thing one should know is that the spider veins are absolutely a cosmetic concern.
There are several ways in which spider veins are treatable. The most common is sclerotherapy, laser, and camouflage. Spider veins do not require surgery or removal.
What Is the Process of Spider Vein Treatment?
Our interventional radiologists experienced in non-surgical procedures perform our treatments in outpatient clinic facilities. We offer an effective and safe method available for reducing spider veins, causing them to collapse and fade. The most common treatment we use for spider veins is:
Visual Sclerotherapy: This treatment requires your doctor to use a needle to inject a sterile solution into the affected vein.
This treatment utilizes techniques that close the diseased veins and reroute the blood flow to the healthy, surrounding veins. The treated vein will then be reabsorbed by your body. Although Varithena is primarily used to treat underlying vein disease, it can also be used to treat spider veins as well. Your doctor will determine which treatment is best for your individual situation.
We focus our treatments towards the underlying cause of varicose and spider veins known as venous insufficiency. Testing for venous insufficiency allows the doctor to determine if you will need further treatment to correct an underlying issue or if you just need spider vein treatment.
Do Spider Veins Completely Go Away with Treatment?
Although spider veins can develop in the future during pregnancies, previously treated veins should not iterate. Spider vein treatment is effective at helping get rid of their appearance. However, new ones can always appear. Most human beings who have spider veins have a predisposition and despite therapies, new veins will appear in the following years. There is no absolute cure for spider veins.
Contact Us
At USA Vein Clinics, we know treatment and the idea of surgery can be very scary. Patients are our utmost priority and we stand by our personalized treatment plans that include treating spider veins. Whether it’s varicose veins, spider veins, or venous ulcers, our clinics treat a variety of vein disease conditions. Varicose treatments take between 15-30 minutes depending on the number of veins affected. If you believe you are suffering from vein disease, contact us at 888.768.3467 to learn more about which treatment would work best for you.
Don’t feel like calling? You can click the button below to schedule your appointment online.