Best Ways to Treat Spider Veins in 2019
Spider veins are large clusters of blood vessels that appear on the surface of your skin. They look like spider webs or like the branches of a tree, which is why they’re known as spider veins. Most people think that spider veins are a completely harmless cosmetic issue, but that is not always the case.
Sure, in some cases, spider veins are harmless — even though they do cause mental distress, anxiety, and self-consciousness. But spider veins can also be symptomatic of venous insufficiency, which is extremely dangerous if left untreated. As such, spider veins may or may not be medically dangerous.
That’s why it’s necessary to diagnose and treat spider veins as soon as you get them. If you don’t seek immediate diagnosis, and if they really are caused by vein disease, then you’ll soon experience serious complications like varicose veins, leg ulcers, skin diseases, and deep vein thrombosis.
Depending on the diagnosis of your spider veins, there are a lot of different ways to go about the treatment. In this article, we discuss the best ways to treat spider veins in 2019.
Sclerotherapy to Treat Spider Veins
Sclerotherapy is widely considered to be the best way to treat spider veins. This treatment has been around for several decades now and it is always successful, to varying degrees.
During the sclerotherapy procedure, the vein doctor injects a sclerosant solution into your spider veins. This solution fuses the vein walls, essentially closing them down and turning them to scar tissues. The accumulated blood from the veins reroutes to healthier veins and the scar tissue eventually dissolves.
A single sclerotherapy session can reduce the appearance of spider veins by up to 80%, though you may need to return for repeat sessions as well.
Advantages of Sclerotherapy
Sclerotherapy is the best spider vein treatment in 2019 for the following reasons:
- It’s an in-office procedure that concludes within 30 minutes.
- This is an outpatient procedure that doesn’t require hospitalization and there’s no recovery downtime.
- It’s a painless and comfortable procedure.
- There’s a negligible risk of side effects or complications.
- It’s minimally invasive and non-surgical in nature.
Disadvantages of Sclerotherapy
The only drawback of sclerotherapy is that it only treats the spider veins and not the underlying vein disease. As such, this procedure is only suitable if you’re not suffering from vein disease at all or if your venous insufficiency has already been treated. If you have venous insufficiency and you only seek sclerotherapy, then your spider veins will simply come back later.
As such, while sclerotherapy is the best procedure to deal with spider veins that aren’t caused by venous insufficiency, it’s not a suitable treatment for vein disease. Since it’s primarily considered to be a cosmetic procedure, it’s also not covered by insurance.
How to Treat Varicose Veins?
Varicose veins are large bulging veins that appear on the surface of your skin in the form of twisted ropes. If you have varicose veins, it’s an indication that your vein disease has progressed further and you need treatment immediately.
In the past, varicose veins and venous insufficiency could only be treated with complex and risky surgeries. However, in 2019, varicose vein treatment is fairly simple. The following are some of the best ways to treat spider veins caused by venous insufficiency in 2019.
Radiofrequency Ablation
Radiofrequency ablation is a procedure in which the vein doctor uses thermal energy to destroy the problematic saphenous vein. This is done by inserting a catheter into the saphenous vein under ultrasound guidance and then activating it. This procedure reroutes the accumulated blood to healthier veins and it treats the root cause of spider veins and varicose veins.
It’s minimally invasive, non-surgical, concludes within an hour, is completely safe, and it doesn’t cause any pain or discomfort either during or after the procedure. It’s also covered by medical insurance because it’s a medically necessary procedure. All of these qualities make radiofrequency ablation the best way to treat venous insufficiency.
Laser Treatment
Laser treatment is a procedure in which the vein doctor uses a catheter and laser fiber to generate laser energy and destroy the diseased saphenous vein. This procedure also reroutes the accumulated blood to healthier veins and treats spider veins permanently.
This procedure is minimally invasive and non-surgical, it also concludes within an hour with no recovery downtime, and it’s covered by medical insurance. However, this procedure causes considerable pain and soreness after the procedure, which is why vein doctors often avoid it.
VenaSeal
VenaSeal is a procedure in which the vein doctor uses a medical adhesive to fuse the diseased saphenous vein’s walls in order to facilitate smooth blood circulation to the heart.
This procedure is also minimally invasive, non-surgical, highly successful, and it concludes within an hour with no recovery downtime. The only issue is that it’s not yet covered by medical insurance, which is why most people can’t afford to pay for it out of pocket.
Improve Circulation Today
At VIP Medical Group, we have some of the country’s best vein doctors and we are equipped with the latest state-of-the-art technology so we can offer you the best treatments for spider veins and varicose veins in 2019. You can even walk into our clinic during your office lunch break and we’ll improve circulation and treat venous insufficiency within an hour! For more information, please schedule an appointment today.
