At first, the medical term, telangiectasia may seem quite foreign to you, but actually this is really just a technical way to refer to spider veins. Appearing on the face, chest and neck, spider veins are small blood vessels that become visible with discoloration. These blood vessels may also appear on the legs and do not offer any definite function. This is why removing them is a common procedure that does not hinder the health of the individual in any way. Spider veins are most often removed because they are viewed as an unattractive blemish on the skin.



What Causes Spider Veins?

In regards to the face, spider veins tend to surface through a wide range of causes. Whenever the face becomes flushed or blushes, the threat of developing telangiectasia emerges. Spider veins in the face might form due to any of the following factors: spicy or hot meals, exercise, hormonal imbalance, excessive sun exposure and cortisone medications. Some people also inherit the condition from their parents, while others suffer from acne rosacea (adult acne). There are also a few rare skin conditions that result in the formation of facial spider veins.

Exploring Spider Vein Treatment

Many consider the use of vascular lasers as the best approach in treating spider veins. There are two ways to accomplish this kind of treatment. The first involves pulses of light coming into contact with the skin while the second deals with a beam of yellow-green light used to treat single blood vessels.

If you are concerned with damaging the healthy skin surrounding your spider veins, there is no need to worry. Since the color of telangiectasia is usually pink, red or purple, the laser light is absorbed into these entities. When the blood vessels take in the laser light, they eventually shrink without harming normal skin.

When treating a high number of spider veins, there are many different skin types to consider. To effectively treat your skin, a small test will be performed to determine the correct laser settings for this type of procedure. After the test patch of skin confirms the proper approach in treatment, larger patches of skin can be treated.

While undergoing a spider vein treatment, you may feel a fleeting sensation on the skin that is accompanied by a momentary sting. When large patches of skin are being treated, a patient may receive sedatives, pain pills or laughing gas for the procedure. Most patients are able to withstand the treatment without any assistance from medication.

After the completion of a treatment, the skin will seem red or display purple discoloration. These are temporary effects that will subside over time. In rare cares, blisters may develop after a treatment. Sometimes, a handful of patients experience a reduction or increase in the pigmentation in the skin. Scarring is also of concern, but only occurs in a minute percentage of patients.

While nearly all cases of telangiectasia may enjoy positive results, there are a few patients where vascular lasers will not offer relief from spider veins. Often, those with pigmented skin or having a dark tan will not benefit from laser treatments.

How Many Treatments Will I Need?

One of the many joys of treating spider veins with lasers is that most cases are solved in one treatment session. The complete removal of severe cases of telangiectasia may require several treatments, but a definite improvement is visible after the first session. You should also know that the full effect of the treatment does not completely reveal itself until all discoloration has completely faded away.

There are also a number of vascular conditions that require more than one treatment. For example, Port Wine Hemangiomas often requires 6-18 treatments, while it takes 2-3 treatments to correct Cherry Angiomas and Venous Lake Angioma. The blotchiness on the neck caused by intense sun exposure (Poikiloderma) usually takes 3-5 treatment sessions to fully correct.

Aftercare

It is important to protect treated skin from the sun or tanning until your normal skin color has returned. The skin should also be gently cleansed. In the event that blisters, crust or scabs should appear, the patient should apply an over-the-counter antibiotic ointment to affected areas.

Will Spider Veins Reemerge?

After treatment, it is possible to notice a new batch of telangiectasia to reform in its place. This may signify a deeper condition that causes spider veins, such as acne rosacea. Treating the underlying condition will allow patients to no longer suffer from the formation of telangiectasia.

Spider veins that form in the corners of the nose are most likely to come back because of the pressure level of the blood vessels in this area. Often, this cannot be avoided. Staying out of the sun to protect the skin from burning will also lead to less spider veins.

If you tend to frequently blush or flush, you stand a higher risk in developing telangiectasia. Also, uncorrectable patches of spider veins often occur in patients with inherited traits, such as fair skin. Brief laser touch ups will help to keep newly formed spider veins under control.