Spider Veins
Overview

Spider veins are dense clusters of unhealthy blood vessels visible just underneath your skin. They’re usually red, purple, or blue in color, and they expand outwards from a central location, usually on the lower extremities of your body, such as your legs. Although their medical term is “telangiactasias,” they’re popularly called spider veins because they resemble spider webs.

A dangerous circulatory disorder called chronic venous insufficiency is the root cause of your spider veins. Leg veins are supposed to carry blood from various parts of your body to your heart, often defying the force of gravity by traveling upwards (from the legs to the heart). Healthy leg veins contain vein valves that ensure smooth one-way blood circulation, allowing blood to flow towards the heart but not backward. When your vein valves collapse (due to various factors), blood flows backward and accumulates in your leg veins. Over time, the accumulated blood applies pressure on your vein walls, making them swell and dilate, leading to the formation of spider veins.

Family history and genetic predisposition are the leading risk factors for spider veins. As such, you have a 90% risk of spider veins if your mother or father has a history of vein disease.

Age and sex are the next biggest risk factors for spider veins. Your risk of spider veins increases with age, and research conducted by the Office on Women’s Health in America shows that 54% of all women and 45% of all men get spider or varicose veins.

Since higher estrogen levels lead to a higher risk of spider veins, you also have a higher risk if you’re pregnant, undergoing hormone therapy, taking birth control pills, or other factors that affect your hormones.

Other risk factors for spider veins include a medical history of blood clots, leg injuries, obesity, and a job that involves long periods of sitting or standing still.

We believe chronic venous insufficiency, also known as vein disease, is the root cause of spider veins (in most cases). The accumulation of blood in the leg veins leads to vein dilation and the eventual formation of spider veins.

This is similar to the relationship between leaky pipes and stains on walls — vein disease is the “leaky pipe,” and spider veins are the “stains.”

Spider veins don’t produce any symptoms, but they make your legs look bad and cause self-consciousness.

However, your spider veins may be accompanied with numerous symptoms because of the underlying chronic venous insufficiency. You may experience leg heaviness, throbbing leg veins, restless leg syndrome, leg swelling, and itching, burning, or tingling sensations.

If left untreated, your underlying vein disease may cause skin changes, non-healing wounds called leg ulcers, and blood clots in your leg veins.

Since spider veins don’t produce any symptoms of their own, you don’t have to seek spider vein treatment. You can opt for treatment if you experience any discomfort or want to improve your legs’ appearance, but it’s not necessary.

However, if you identify any of the signs or symptoms of venous insufficiency, such as leg heaviness, restless leg syndrome, varicose veins, etc., you must seek prompt diagnosis and vein treatment in Long Island. Chronic venous insufficiency, as mentioned earlier, is a dangerous circulatory disorder that progressively worsens with time. Furthermore, until you treat vein disease, your spider veins will keep returning.