No matter how well you take care of your skin—whether with moisturizer, facial peels, or anti-aging serums—if you have unsightly veins such as spider veins or enlarged veins in the hands it can feel like all your hard work just isn’t paying off. It can be challenging to completely cover visible veins in the cheeks and around the nose with makeup, and even younger women’s hands can betray signs of aging long before other areas.
Fortunately, advancements in the cosmetic treatment of venous issues allow us to provide our patients with more options than ever before to greatly improve the appearance of visible facial, spider, and hand veins. Best of all, patients can see a big impact with treatments that are non- or minimally-invasive—meaning little to no discomfort, downtime, and scarring.
Facial Veins
Those delicate, web-like red veins that can crop up on your cheeks, chin and around your nose can be frustrating simply due to the fact that they are so visible. If you have unwanted visible veins on your face, ask your cosmetic surgeon about the latest treatment options. He may offer a laser or light treatment such as IPL. IPL or Intense Pulsed Light is also referred to as a photo facial. It uses short, carefully controlled bursts of light to eliminate redness and improve appearance. Patients may see improvement within just a few sessions.
Your surgeon may also recommend an RF treatment for spider veins of the face. This technique uses a fine needle to gently deliver heat energy directly into the targeted vein, fading redness so that the treated area blends more readily into the surrounding skin.
Hand Veins
While most of us are pretty good about applying facial sunscreen these days, the same cannot always be said about our hands. Even if we do apply sunscreen to our hands, it’s doubtful that we remember to reapply it every time we have to wash them throughout the day. The result is that our hands tend to show age before our faces do. Visible veins along with sunspots and other signs of aging can compound the problem. Even women in their 20s with thin skin, little fat, and prominent veins can feel like their hands “age” them.
There are several treatments a qualified cosmetic surgeon can perform to improve the ropey look of visible hand veins. Cosmetic treatments can also have a dramatic impact. IPL treatments can rejuvenate the appearance of the hands, reducing the look of sunspots and making the skin look more refreshed and more youthful. Additionally, a dermal filler such as Radiesse can be used to “plump” the skin of the hands, adding much-needed volume and reducing the appearance of prominent veins.
Spider Veins
Although frequently asymptomatic, spider veins on the legs can be unsightly and many of our patients do not feel comfortable in bathing suits or shorts because they feel less confident when their legs are visible. This can be an impractical and uncomfortable restriction, especially for those who have an athletic, active lifestyle where shorts are a go-to clothing item.
Your surgeon can effectively treat spider veins with sclerotherapy, a procedure in which an irritating agent, known as a sclerosant, is introduced into spider veins to cause them to collapse and gradually disappear. This is the gold standard for treatment of spider veins on the legs. It typically requires several treatments over a period of time. Sessions last about 30 minutes and can be performed every 4-6 weeks until the desired result is obtained. Sometimes your surgeon will complement sclerotherapy with other modalities such as IPL or RF treatments.
If you have prominent, unsightly spider veins or hand veins, rest assured that there are several, non or minimally-invasive options to help you feel more confident in your appearance. To learn more about your treatment options, please contact Southern Surgical Arts at 423-266-3331 for a complimentary personal consultation.
