What are spider veins?

Spider veins are small, squiggly red lines that show up near the surface of your skin, usually in your legs or face. Spider veins are related to varicose veins, but they don’t bulge out as varicose veins do.

What causes spider veins?

In medical terms, spider veins are caused by venous insufficiency. Your veins are responsible for delivering blood back to your heart for recirculation throughout your body. When it comes to your legs, your veins have to fight both distance and gravity to get the blood to your heart. To help with this, your veins have tiny valves that close as the blood passes through to prevent it from falling backward on its climb upward.

When your valves don’t close properly, blood can pool and remain in the vein, which is what causes spider veins. There are certain factors that put you more at risk of developing spider veins, including:

• Heredity
• Pregnancy
• Carrying extra weight
• Sitting for long periods
• Using hormonal medications

Spider veins are more common in women, because many of the risk factors are unique to women, though men can develop them, too.

How are spider veins treated?

To get rid of spider veins, the doctors at Manhattan Footcare offer the Fotona® laser, which clears away the unsightly blood vessels with noninvasive treatment. With the Fotona laser, your doctor delivers laser energy into the spider vein without harming your skin. The energy from the laser is absorbed by the blood in your vein, which converts it into heat and destroys the walls of the vein.

After treatment, your blood simply reroutes itself through healthier blood vessels. In the meantime, your destroyed blood vessel is naturally flushed out through your body’s lymphatic system.

The Fotona laser allows your doctor to deliver targeted energy to effectively destroy your spider veins in just one treatment, though you may need a follow-up treatment if your body tries to reactive the blood vessel.

Your optimal results will be revealed within a few weeks of your initial treatment, once your body has had time to get rid of the old veins and reroute your blood elsewhere.

If you’d like to get rid of your spider veins, call Manhattan Footcare or use the online scheduling tool to book an appointment.