The human body has a vast network of veins that help carry blood from all organs to the heart. The veins in our legs and face have the most work to do as they are the furthest away from the heart. Veins on the legs have to pump blood against gravity, making their job even tougher.
To prevent blood from flowing back into the legs, veins have valves that close if blood tries to flow backwards. But over time, some valves may weaken. When this happens, blood may get collected in the veins, then branch out to look like thin spider webs. This is what causes spider veins. Varicose veins appear as swollen and enlarged veins that are blue or purple in color. They are often lumpy, bulging, or twisty in appearance.
Women are more likely to develop spider and varicose veins than men; similarly, they are more likely to appear if it runs in the family. While these factors cannot be controlled, other risk factors such as lifestyle and diet can be controlled. Obesity can also be a factor. If your work or lifestyle involves long hours or sitting or standing and if you don’t have sufficient exercise in your daily routine, you can fall in the risk of developing spider and varicose veins.
If spider veins and varicose veins appear alongside other symptoms such as heaviness or aching in the legs, cramping, worsening leg fatigue, swelling in the feet or ankles, and irritation, itching, or burning over areas of the veins, it could be because of Chronic Venous Insufficiency.
Chronic Venous Insufficiency is a serious condition where valves in the vein have been damaged and blood cannot flow back to the heart sufficiently. Left untreated, Chronic Venous Insufficiency can lead to serious complications such as blood clots and ulcers. It is extremely important to screen for possible Chronic Venous Insufficiency if the symptoms mentioned above arise.
Top Five treatment options for spider veins and varicose veins
Even if you don’t have a significant amount of spider veins or varicose veins, you may simply not be happy with its appearance. If caught early, spider and varicose veins can be easily treated by our team of expert vein specialist doctors. Innovation and massive advances in medical technology have meant that vein treatment procedures have become less and less invasive over the last decade. Most of the procedures now require only local anaesthetic, and some don’t require anaesthetics at all. Doctors can use a variety of diagnosis and treatment methods that would work best for your specific needs.
Our Vein Clinic offers a number of spider and varicose vein treatment methods:
- Endovenous laser varicose surgery: In this vein procedure, heat from a laser is applied to close or shrink the varicose veins. Endovenous laser surgery is a minimally invasive procedure that takes less than an hour and does not require hospital stay. You will be able to walk out of the hospital within an hour after the procedure is done.
- Sclerotherapy: Sclerotherapy is the most frequently used method of treatment of spider veins. An agent called sclerosant is injected into the diseased veins that causes the veins to stick to one another and close up. The veins are then absorbed by the body, clearing the skin.
- VenaSeal: VenaSeal is a minimally invasive medical procedure in which a bio-adhesive is applied on the diseased veins using a catheter, causing the veins to seal off. The vein procedure takes anywhere between 30 minutes to 60 minutes. Eventually, the veins are reabsorbed by the body.
- Radiofrequency Ablation: Similar to endovenous laser varicose surgery, this procedure applies heat on the diseased veins. Heat is produced using radiofrequency. The heat then stops blood flow in the diseased veins, and over time the veins disappear.
- Varithena: Varithena is a micro foam sclerosant that is injected into the diseased veins. This is a non-surgical procedure that takes less than 60 minutes in which the diseased veins are closed down and eventually disappear. The recovery period for this procedure is also very short; the patient will be able to move about freely within an hour of the vein procedure.
If you would like to know more about the best vein treatment options for you, book an appointment with the best vein doctors in the best vein treatment center in Southern California.
The Vein Clinic boasts a team of highly experienced vein doctors who are at the top of their fields are double board certified and have all been trained at Ivy League universities. With cutting edge technology and world class medical infrastructure at their disposal, these doctors use the most advanced procedures to treat their patients. To top it all, our doctors know to keep patients’ comfort ahead and treat them with friendliness, patience, and kindness. Rest assured that our highly trained doctors will perform the diagnosis and treatment processes for your problems with utmost care and expertise, and their kind and approachable natures mean that your concerns and queries will always be heard.
Our vein clinic at San Diego is currently located near the Torrey Pine beach state park, close to the Westfield UTC Shopping Center. In San Jose, our vein clinic is located in a beautiful neighbourhood near Palo Alto, Sunnydale, and Santa Clara. It is down the block from the Santa Clara Medical Center, and the Santana Row Shopping Mall. Our experienced Harvard-trained vein doctors can offer the best care possible to help you.