Spider Veins in the legs
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At Dallas Vein Specialist we believe the best result is obtained by injection of a dilute concentration of a chemical sclerosant directly into the spider veins. This is called SCLEROTHERAPY and results in damage to the inner layer of the blood vessel leading to formation of clots and eventual removal of the damaged and clotted blood vessel by the body’s inflammatory process. This resolution process takes several weeks and depends on the size of the vessel. Injection therapy is usually easily tolerated with no anesthetic required. Much may be accomplished in a single session. In most cases one or two treaments of 30 minutes to an hour will be sufficient. Treatment sessions are usually separated by 4 to 6 weeks.
The question commonly arises about the use of lasers in the treatment of spider veins. There are lasers that will diminish or abolish spider veins, but the result is less assured than with sclerotherapy. The actual treatment time is much longer and more uncomfortable. If there are many spider veins to be treated, the laser is not a cost efficient method of treatment.
We recommend wearing good quality support stockings after treatment. There is no consensus among treating physicians with recommendations ranging from a few days to several weeks. There is some evidence that the optimal time for wearing the stockings is 2 to 3 weeks. Our usual practice is to recommend that sclerotherapy patients wear support stocking while out of bed or bath for at least 2 weeks.
Some patients have cosmetically undesirable spider veins that are too small for injections. Many times these small spider veins occur in association with ones that can be injected. Dallas Vein Specialists now offers treatment of these small hair-like veins using VeinGogh technology. This device employs a hair-thin insulated probe to focus radio frequency energy onto the small vessels causing "thermocoagulation", which results in disappearance of the veins. The procedure causes minimal discomfort and is easily accomplished in the office. Other successful application of VeinGogh technology include treatment of small veins of the nose and face, cherry angiomas of the skin, and even skin tags, and the redness of rosacea.
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