Do Spider Veins Come Back After Laser Treatment?

Do spider veins come back after laser treatment?

Spider veins are dense clusters of blood vessels visible on the skin’s surface. They’re essentially dilated veins with excess blood accumulation, which makes them appear on your skin’s surface in dense clusters. In most cases, spider veins are cosmetic concerns without underlying medical problems. However, in some cases, spider veins are indicative of underlying chronic venous insufficiency, a circulatory disorder wherein the collapse of your vein valves makes blood accumulate in your leg veins.

Laser treatment is one of the most popular spider vein treatments. It’s also provided by dermatologists and medical spas because it’s a cosmetic treatment, i.e., it doesn’t have to be performed by medical professionals. Laser therapy essentially involves using a special type of light to shrink the spider veins’ walls, making them fade away from the skin’s surface. You have to undergo multiple laser therapies over several months to make all the spider veins disappear from your skin.

However, laser therapy involves a high rate of recurrence, i.e., there’s a high risk of the spider veins coming back. That’s because laser therapy treats spider veins, but it doesn’t identify or address the possibility of underlying chronic venous insufficiency. If you treat spider veins without addressing vein disease, it’s like painting over a stained wall instead of fixing the leaky pipes underneath. Over time, the spider veins will inevitably return.

However, if you have spider veins without underlying vein disease, your spider veins might not return after the treatment.

Spider veins won’t worsen after laser treatment, but it might seem like they’re becoming worse. That’s because the spider veins will shrink and harden into scar tissues, which will make them appear prominently on your skin’s surface. It will seem like your spider veins are getting worse before they eventually fade away from the skin’s surface.

Most patients need 3 or more laser treatments to remove all the spider veins. However, the specific number of sessions depends on the size, location, and depth of your spider veins. If you have underlying chronic venous insufficiency, laser therapy may not be enough, and you’ll need minimally invasive vein procedures, such as radiofrequency ablation and endovenous laser ablation.

What is sclerotherapy?

Sclerotherapy is widely considered the best treatment for spider vein removal. It’s far more effective than laser therapy, and it involves fewer sessions. During sclerotherapy, the vein doctor injects a medicine called sclerosant into the spider veins — one injection per spider vein. The sclerosant medicine fuses the spider veins’ walls, turning them into hardened scar tissues. Over time, your body absorbs the spider veins, and they fade away from the skin’s surface.

Laser therapy and sclerotherapy (injections) are the primary treatment options for spider veins. However, sclerotherapy is definitely superior to laser therapy. The only reason for laser therapy’s popularity is that it’s non-invasive and can be performed by medical spas and non-medical professionals. Sclerotherapy, meanwhile, must be performed by medical professionals with specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of spider veins.

Laser therapy is only suitable for extremely small spider veins. It shrinks the spider veins’ walls, making them fade away from the skin’s surface. However, this process takes several weeks or months, and you need at least 3 sessions. Sclerotherapy, meanwhile, seals the diseased veins’ walls, turning them into hardened scar tissues eventually absorbed by the body. Most patients only need 1 to 2 sclerotherapy sessions for optimal results.

Furthermore, sclerotherapy is a better option because it’s performed in reliable vein treatment centers in Long Island. Before providing sclerotherapy, your vein doctor will examine your leg veins, review your medical history, perform vascular imaging tests, and determine if you have chronic venous insufficiency. If you have vein disease, they treat the underlying root cause before performing sclerotherapy. This minimizes the risk of recurrence.

Can I Remove Spider Veins Myself?

No, you cannot remove spider veins yourself. Spider veins are dense clusters of blood vessels with excess blood caused by the collapse of vein valves. The only way to treat this problem is by underlying minimally invasive spider vein treatments performed by reputable vein doctors in Long Island.

However, while you can’t remove spider veins yourself, you can prevent them from worsening. The following tips will help you control your spider veins:

• Wear compression stockings on your legs
• Elevate your legs above your heart’s level while sitting
• Engage in exercises that work your calf muscles, such as running and swimming

Do Spider Veins go Away With Exercise?

Spider veins don’t go away with exercise, but you can prevent them from worsening. Exercises that engage your calf muscles, such as swimming, running, cycling, and yoga, improve blood circulation and push the accumulated blood towards your heart. This reduces the prominence of spider veins on your skin’s surface.