If you’ve started seeing small, visible veins on your legs that look like webs, then you’re likely seeing spider veins. Blood can accumulate in the veins that push blood back to your heart if the valves in them get damaged. When blood accumulates in these veins, the veins can swell noticeably against your skin.
Spider veins may not only be unsightly, they can bring pain as well. But you don’t have to live with them.
Clement Banda, MD, and his team at MD Vein & Skin Specialists in Columbia, Maryland, understand your frustration with spider veins. In this blog, they offer three tips you can use to minimize your spider veins.
One of the most common causes of spider veins is a sedentary lifestyle. If you sit or stand for long periods of time, blood will accumulate more easily in the veins of your legs and feet. As it accumulates, spider veins can develop.
If your job incorporates long periods of sitting or standing, take short breaks throughout the day and do simple exercises to keep your blood circulating. This will help you prevent new spider veins from forming.
You can also incorporate more exercise into your daily life by taking walks around your neighborhood or by taking the stairs more often. You can also park farther away from work and stores, so that you can walk a longer distance through the parking lot.
Another way to prevent blood from accumulating in your leg veins is to manipulate the flow of blood through them. You can achieve this through compression or elevation.
Compression socks or leggings are a common tool for helping with spider veins. They apply consistent pressure to your lower legs, lessening swelling and encouraging your blood to flow more easily back to your heart. Doing this will also reduce your risk of developing a blood clot.
Elevation is another easy way to manipulate your blood flow. If you relax with your legs up, your blood can return to your heart more easily and won’t accumulate as much in your lower legs and feet.
Dr. Banda is an expert in ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy, a minimally invasive procedure for treating spider veins. During the treatment, he can minimize your existing spider veins. Sclerotherapy takes about 30 minutes, but it can vary depending on the number and size of your spider veins. It’s an in-office procedure that doesn’t require anesthesia, so it’s a safe and convenient treatment option.
Dr. Banda injects a solution into your vein, which irritates the lining of the vein and causes it to swell closed and form a scar. The scar prevents blood from entering the vein, and the blood then reroutes itself through other veins instead. Your local tissues then eventually absorb the treated vein, and it fades away. You’ll notice results of the treatment in 3-6 weeks.
When symptoms, such as pain and swelling are present there is likely to be underlying pathological varicose veins which may not be visible to the naked eye. Hence every patient considering treatment for spider veins gets a comprehensive vein evaluation including an ultrasound scan. When underlying vein disease is present he will treat that with other technologies prior to cosmetically treating any associated spider veins.
If you want to learn more about minimizing your spider veins, book an appointment online or over the phone with MD Vein & Skin Specialists today.
