What are spider veins?
Spider veins are little pink or purple irregular lines that you saw in the legs. They are sometimes called telangiectasia. The bigger spider veins can even be green color. They are part of the family of varicose veins. This is classified as stage 1 venous insufficiency.
What is the significance?
A lot of the times it is benign and it’s a precursor for formation of true varicose veins which stage 2 of venous insufficiency. Most of the time it is a cosmetic matter but sometimes it may be a marker for underlying venous in sufficiency.
What would the doctor do if you have spider veins?
After a full detail history taking and examination, the patient will proceed to have an ultrasound scan to check for underlying big vein problem. If the underlying vein problem is not treated prior to spider vein treatment, the spider veins will come back within 18 months to 2 year. This is always an important step.
Can anything be done about it?
Yes of course. The treatment depends on the size of spider veins. The pink ones are smaller in size and usually treated by superficial laser therapy. This is different type of laser which is used to treat the bigger varicose veins. The bigger green/purple ones may be more suitable for special foam injection.
What is superficial laser treatment for spider veins?
We use the Candela @laser which is also called v beam. It helps to block the veins using direct pulse dye laser treatment and after 14 days together with steroid cream, the spider vein area will return to normal looking skin and all the spider veins will disappear
What is sclerotherapy foam treatment for spider veins?
First, we mark out the treatment area. Then we prepare the foam using varixio machine.
This machine will produce the finest and stable foam bubble for injection using a very fine needle directly into the spider veins. This is particular suitable for large spider veins which are normally purple/ green color. Depend on the extensiveness of spider veins, it can be treated with more than one session.
