Womens Health in the News

Spider veins are small but very unsightly clusters of veins which are red, blue or purple in colour and are more prominent on the ankles, calves and thighs, it is a condition which affects millions of women and it is thought that over half of the adult female population are affected by this condition. Cosmetic surgeons can however treat this condition fairly easy with a process known as Sclerotherapy, during the procedure, the veins will be injected which causes them to collapse and fade.

What causes spider veins?

Telangiectasias is the medical term for spider veins and a number of factors can contribute to them appearing including pregnancy, hormonal shifts, weight gain and any activity which means that you are standing still or sitting for long periods of time. The veins can take on three distinctive patterns, the spider shape in which a group of veins will radiate out from a central point, linear or they may be seen as separate lines.

The linear spider veins are more commonly seen on the knees and should not be confused with varicose veins, varicose veins differ in that they are larger then spider veins and are likely to cause pain whereas spider veins are just unsightly.

What does surgery from spider veins entail?

While Sclerotherapy can enhance the appearance of spider veins, it cannot make every single vein disappear so your expectations of the surgery should be realistic, after your first procedure veins will appear lighter and less noticeable but further treatments will be needed to achieve the best results.

The treatment can also only have an effect on veins which are already present and won’t stop or have any effect on veins which may appear some time in the future. As the procedure is a relatively easy one the patient needs no anaesthesia and the procedure can be done on an outpatient basis.

A typical session will last around 15 to 45 minutes and you will be asked to lie down on the examination table and before treatment commences your legs will be washed with an antiseptic solution. The sclerosing agent will then be injected into the veins; one injection will be given for roughly every inch of spider veins.

Depending on how many spider veins you have the amount of injections can be anywhere from 5 to 40 injections per session. After the procedure, a tight fitting support hose will be given to you and you should wear this to protect against blood clots and to help healing, you are likely to be asked to wear this for around 72 hours.

You will probably feel some cramping in the legs for the first couple of days after the procedure and this is only normal. When your compression dressings are removed the veins will look worse and there will be redness and swelling at the points where you had the injections.

The bruising should slowly disappear in around a month although some brownish pigmentation may remain for up to a year after the procedure.