Spider veins are common and usually harmless. They are also known as telangiectasias, venous lakes, or thread veins. Spider veins appear like blue, red, or brown thread-like lines on the skin. They often form when capillaries become dilated and rupture into the skin’s surface and are usually found in clusters on the legs, but they can also form on the face and other areas of the body. Your Tinley Park, IL general surgeon at Vascular Specialist can help if you are battling this condition.
Spider veins can be either superficial or deep. Superficial spider veins look like a network of small red lines under the surface of your skin, while deep spider veins are larger and may feel like a cord underneath your skin. Unfortunately, spider veins may be associated with thrombosis (blood clots), leading to more serious vein disease if not treated properly. What are the causes of spider veins?
Key causes of spider veins
Excessive weight gain or loss
If you gain or lose a lot of weight quickly, you may experience changes in your blood flow that cause spider veins. This is because when you gain weight, there’s more pressure on your legs which forces more blood into them while losing weight forces less blood into them than usual.
Hormonal changes
Hormonal changes, including pregnancy and the use of oral contraceptives, can trigger spider veins. This is because these hormones increase the pressure in your legs, causing blood to pool in the veins and make them look like spiders.
Standing for long periods
If you stand for long periods without moving around, your body will pump more blood into your veins so that your heart doesn’t have to work as hard at pumping blood through your body. This can lead to spider veins forming on your legs if you have a family history of varicose veins or they’ve already formed elsewhere in your body.
Genetic factors
Spider veins are often hereditary, so if someone in your family has had them, there’s a good chance you could develop them too. They’re also more common with age because the skin becomes less elastic, making it harder for the valves inside blood vessels to function properly and stop blood from flowing backward into the deeper layers of skin.
What is the best treatment for spider veins?
Your doctor may recommend one of several treatments for spider veins:
Sclerotherapy: During sclerotherapy, a solution is injected into your vein to make it shrink. Over time, these treated veins fade away. The procedure is done in the doctor’s office with local anesthesia (numbing medicine), so you shouldn’t feel any pain during the procedure.
Laser therapy (photon therapy): Laser therapy uses laser light to destroy blood vessels near your skin’s surface without damaging surrounding tissue. Laser therapy can be used alone or combined with others.
Finally, spider veins are tiny spider-like vessels on your legs, usually on the skin’s surface. They’re typically red or bluish in color, and they’re visible from the outside of your leg. Spider veins can make your legs look more varicose than they actually are. If you have spider veins, schedule an appointment with Vascular Specialist today.
