Spider and varicose veins can develop after childbirth or after taking certain medications, because of hormone changes, weight gain, or prolonged sitting or standing, or they may be an inherited family trait. Spider and varicose veins can be embarrassing—they make many people self-conscious about wearing sports clothes, shorts, or summer tops. And if you have spider veins on your face, even a good makeup concealer won’t always cover the veins completely.
Spider veins can be treated with lasers, especially on the face, where the veins are too small and too close to the skin’s surface to be effectively collapsed with sclerotherapy. Lasers destroy the targeted veins without damaging surrounding tissues. Laser treatments are performed on an outpatient basis and usually take from 15 minutes to an hour. You may require more than one treatment. Cold compresses are recommended to reduce swelling, the treated area may bruise for approximately a week, and discoloration may last for a few weeks. In darker skin types, there is the risk of permanent discoloration of the skin, so you should discuss this issue with your nurse or physician during your consultation. Although laser treatment does not prevent new veins from forming, it is a very effective treatment that usually produces few, if any, side effects.