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Spider Veins
Overview

What are spider veins?

Spider veins, also known as telangiectasis, are small, unhealthy veins that appear on the skin’s surface. They are red or blue in color, and they usually appear on the legs, but they can also appear on other parts of the body, such as the face. Spider veins derive their name from the fact that they look like dense clusters of spider webs spreading outwards from a central location. In most cases, spider veins are caused by chronic venous insufficiency.

The Root Cause of Spider Veins

Chronic venous insufficiency is the primary root cause of spider veins. Venous insufficiency is a medical condition wherein the vein valves collapse, leading to circulatory problems. Healthy veins contain valves that facilitate smooth, one-way blood circulation to the heart. The vein valves essentially act as one-way doors, allowing blood to flow towards the heart but not backward due to gravity. The blood in your leg veins must travel against the force of gravity to reach the heart, so the vein valves are particularly useful in this region.

Chronic venous insufficiency is a medical condition wherein the vein valves collapse due to various factors, such as genetics, age-related wear and tear, hormonal changes, etc. The collapse of vein valves leads to backward blood circulation because of gravity, especially in the legs. Over time, blood continues accumulating in the leg veins, leading to vascular dilation. The pressure created within the veins eventually leads to the formation of spider veins that appear on the skin’s surface. This is an extremely common condition affecting 54% of women and 45% of men.

The formation of spider veins is often likened to the appearance of stains on a wall. When the pipes underneath the wall start leaking, stains appear on the wall’s surface. Spider veins are like stains appearing on the skin’s surface because of a leak in the deeper veins underneath the skin.

Risk Factors for Spider Veins

Spider veins are an extremely common condition that affects 54% of all women and 45% of all men, according to the Office of Women’s Health in America. Genes are the primary risk factors for spider veins — if both your parents have a history of vein problems, there’s a 90% chance you will also develop spider veins at some point. Women have a higher risk of spider veins than men because estrogen and progesterone weaken the vein valves, increasing the risk of vein disease.

For that same reason, the risk of spider veins is higher in pregnant women and those undergoing hormone therapy. You also have a high risk of spider veins if you have a job that involves long periods of sitting or standing still, such as teaching, nursing, driving, and desk jobs. Other potential risk factors for spider veins include a history of vein problems, a history of deep vein thrombosis, birth control pills, and obesity. The risk of spider veins also increases as you get older.

Symptoms of Spider Veins

Spider veins don’t cause major symptoms on their own. However, since spider veins are usually indicative of underlying chronic venous insufficiency, they are often accompanied by the signs and symptoms of vein disease. That’s why patients with spider veins may also experience leg heaviness, leg pain, restless leg syndrome, frequent leg cramps, and leg swelling. The signs and symptoms of vein disease worsen at the end of the day or after long periods of sitting or standing still. If left untreated for extended periods, you may eventually develop leg ulcers and skin discoloration because of ineffective blood circulation in the legs.

How are Spider Veins Treated?

Spider veins aren’t always caused by underlying vein disease, so they don’t always need to be treated. However, the appearance of spider veins also leads to self-consciousness and anxiety, so you should seek treatment for cosmetic reasons. You must also consult a reliable center for vein treatment in Maryland for a diagnosis because you may have underlying vein disease, in which case, spider vein treatment will become medically necessary. If you have spider veins without underlying vein disease, the vein doctor may perform sclerotherapy to remove the visible spider veins. But if you also have underlying chronic venous insufficiency, the vein doctor will have to address the root cause before removing spider veins.

The Best Spider Vein Treatments

The Maryland Vein Treatment Center always performs a thorough evaluation using ultrasound diagnostic techniques to determine the root cause of your spider veins. We perform ultrasound scans to determine if your spider veins are symptomatic of vein disease. If we treat spider veins without addressing the root cause, they will simply return later. Below are some of the best treatments for spider veins.

Sclerotherapy

Sclerotherapy is widely considered the best spider vein treatment in Maryland. The vein doctor injects a sclerosant medicine into the spider veins to fuse their walls, turning them into scar tissues eventually reabsorbed into the body. They gradually fade away from the skin’s surface over several weeks. However, this treatment only provides cosmetic relief — it doesn’t treat the root cause of spider veins.

Endovenous Laser Ablation

Laser ablation is another effective minimally invasive treatment for chronic venous insufficiency. The vein doctor uses laser energy (instead of thermal energy) to collapse the diseased saphenous vein responsible for your spider veins. The accumulated blood reroutes into healthier leg veins. This treatment causes a little more post-treatment discomfort than radiofrequency ablation, but it’s just as effective. Your vein doctor will have their reasons to select one or the other.

Radiofrequency Ablation

Radiofrequency ablation is the best minimally invasive treatment for chronic venous insufficiency, the root cause of spider veins. The vein doctor makes a small incision on the skin’s surface to insert a catheter that generates thermal energy and destroys the diseased vein responsible for spider veins. The accumulated blood reroutes into healthier leg veins, restoring perfect blood circulation to the heart. This treatment concludes within 30 minutes and involves no downtime.

Compression Stockings

Compression stockings are skin-tight garments that apply pressure on your leg veins. They pump the accumulated blood towards the heart, thus minimizing the pooling of blood in leg veins. If you have a high risk of spider veins, you can wear compression stockings to minimize the risk of vein problems. And if you already have spider veins, compression stockings can prevent the condition from worsening. However, compression stockings can’t treat the root cause of spider veins, and they are only safe and effective when fitted according to your specific measurements. Please contact our vein doctors for a formal measurement and fitting.

Daily Exercise

You can’t treat spider veins or their root cause with daily exercise, but you can certainly improve the symptoms. You should engage in cardiovascular exercises that work your calf muscles, such as running, swimming, cycling, and yoga. These exercises improve blood circulation to the heart and engage your calf muscles, pushing some of the accumulated blood away. As such, exercising won’t treat spider veins or make them go away, but you may experience temporary relief from leg heaviness, leg pain, and other symptoms.