Women and Spider Veins

By Dennis Faludi, MD

Aesthetic Medical Center

. https://aestheticmedctr.com/

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Women and Spider Veins

You may have noticed them while applying lotion after a shower, or maybe while stretching in your new shorts before a workout. Whenever you noticed them, your immediate thought was probably “I'm too young for spider veins.” Unfortunately, it's a myth that only elderly women get spider veins nearly everyone gets them at some point in their lives. It's actually quite common for women in their 30's, 20's, and sometimes even teens. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 50 to 55 percent of women (and 40 to 45 percent of men) suffer from some type of vein problem.

After your initial surprise, your next thought was probably “Is there a way for me to get rid of these spider veins?” Fortunately for you, there is. Before going into details about what options are available, let's go over what spider veins are.

Spider veins are small vessels under the skin that appear on the legs, face, neck, or chest in blue, red, purple, or green tones. In the legs, they are caused by malfunctioning valves within the blood vessels, which results in increased pressure to the delicate vessel walls. At a certain point, the walls rupture, and the broken vessels appear. In larger vessels, the weakened walls may stretch and appear as varicose veins. There are a number of factors that predispose a person to develop broken vessels, including heredity, lifestyle, and hormonal changes.

Spider veins can be treated with either sclerotherapy or a laser procedure, however, laser treatment, specifically, the Cutera Excel V, is particularly effective for smaller vessels because it allows for greater accuracy than a sclerotherapy injection with a needle.

The Excel V laser system uses a green laser that targets the hemoglobin in the ruptured vessels. As the laser light is absorbed, the vessels are heated and eliminated. The laser also has a sapphire cooling window, which allows the patient to feel more comfortable during the procedure. There is usually no downtime following an Excel V treatment, and no compression stockings are required.

In addition to its use in treating spider veins, the Excel V is highly effective in the treatment of rosacea, cherry angiomas, age spots, telangiectasia, and a number of other skin conditions.

If you are unhappy with the appearance of broken vessels on your legs, face, or upper body, ask about the Excel V laser. When used by an experienced medical professional, patient satisfaction rates are very high.