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Treatment

Varicose Vein Treatment For Spider Veins After Sun Exposure

Have you ever noticed that spider veins are rather common on the cheeks and nose? This is because sun exposure breaks down collagen and small blood vessels right near the surface of the skin. This is also why golfers and gardeners often need varicose vein treatment for spider veins. They tend to spend a lot of time in the sun and often their face is fully exposed while they golf or garden.

The gold standard varicose vein treatment for spider veins has become sclerotherapy. In this procedure, a “sclerosing solution” (a salt solution) is injected into the spider veins using a very tiny needle. This solution causes the spider veins to close off by collapsing in place. The body then reabsorbs the spider veins. If there are slightly larger varicose veins near your spider veins, your vein doctor may decide to use a foamed sclerosing solution which tends to work better on these slightly larger varicose veins.

Sclerotherapy varicose vein treatment is often performed on spider veins at Metro Vein Centers because the treatment has an eighty percent success rate. In the minority of the cases where it doesn’t work, other varicose vein treatment such as pulsed light therapy using transdermal lasers may be tried. In other cases where sclerotherapy doesn’t work the first time, your vein doctor may suggest more than one sclerotherapy varicose vein treatment session to eliminate all your spider veins.

Let’s explore in more detail why direct sunlight causes spider veins to form. The UV portion of sunlight breaks down the collagen that surrounds the capillaries. UV causes free radicals that are basically oxygen molecules that have been broken into single oxygen atoms that are unstable due to unpaired elections. Thus, they are seeking something to lash onto, i.e. oxidize by bonding with other free electrons. UV light will also tend to break capillaries and make them lose elasticity.

If you happen to be a fair-skinned individual, sun exposure will bring about spider veins or worsen existing spider veins at a quicker rate than will happen in a darker skinned person. This is probably why fair-skinned people tend to get varicose vein treatment for spider veins more often than darker skinned people. Spider veins also show up on fair-skinned people than darker skinned people.

If you have noticed spider veins forming in places that you find troublesome, it’s important that you schedule an appointment at a vein clinic like Metro Vein Centers as soon as possible. Once spider veins start forming, the process of forming new spider veins can actually be quite rapid if you don’t intervene. This is especially true if you continue to allow sun exposure on these areas. If you allow your spider veins to worsen, it will take more extensive varicose vein treatment to eliminate them.

So, how can you avoid sun exposure and the formation of more spider veins? You can take a lesson from the Aussies who receive among the highest sun exposures of any nation on Earth. They are known for wearing their light colored, light weight, WIDE brimmed hats everywhere they go. If you make sure the brim of your hat is at least two inches wide, you’ll fully shade your face and neck. You can also try to avoid being outside in the full sun from about 10:00 am to 3:00 pm when the sun is the most intense and the most capable of breaking down collagen and small surface veins. If you are someone who likes to hang out at the beach or by the swimming pool, try to wear a sun protective wrap in addition to a sun hat.

While some people joke and call their spider veins “body art,” you should be aware that spider veins are not only a cosmetic concern. They can also be a medical concern. Depending on how extensive they are, they may require varicose vein treatment for medical reasons if they causing symptoms like itching, burning, or pain. This may also allow your insurance to cover such varicose vein treatment. Spider veins can also be indicative of larger varicose veins not yet visible at the surface of the skin, or so deep down, they may never be visible. This is why your vein doctor will likely perform a duplex ultrasound if you go in to be checked for spider veins. Even though he or she can see your spider veins with just the naked eye, they must use duplex ultrasound to get a 3D image of what’s going on with your other veins that cannot be seen from the surface of the skin.