Sclerotherapy: The All Star Spider Vein Treatment
Posted: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 | Revised: October 7, 2013
Sclerotherapy: The All Star Spider Vein Treatment
Spider veins, also known as telangiactasias, are small capillary veins that are visible in your skin. They may be the result of larger veins becoming connected with the dilated blood channels under your skin. Sclerotherapy is the primary treatment option for spider veins, with a high level of success and short recovery time. If you have spider veins and want to minimize their appearance, contact a vein clinic about sclerotherapy.
What is Sclerotherapy?
Sclerotherapy is the most successful type of spider vein treatment available. It is a medical procedure that involves injecting a solution into the vein, which irritates the inside lining of the vein. This makes the vein sticky and seals it shut. Once it is sealed, it is no longer visible from the skin surface. The procedure has been used as a treatment for spider veins and varicose veins since the 1930s, but the technique and the medications used have been refined over the past decade.
About the Procedure
Michigan vein doctors have been performing sclerotherapy for many years as an effective spider vein treatment. It is an outpatient procedure performed in a doctor’s office by vascular surgeons. After cleaning the area, the leg is elevated and a solution called sclerosant is injected into the affected vein. This solution will irritate the lining of the varicose vein and spider veins, closing them off. The injections are generally painless and take 10-30 minutes depending on how extensive the veins being treated are.
Candidates for Sclerotherapy
Unfortunately, not everyone with bothersome spider veins is a candidate for sclerotherapy. If you are bedridden, breastfeeding, or pregnant, now is not a good time to have sclerotherapy. Women who are pregnant should wait a few months after they deliver to get the procedure done. People who have had strokes or blood clots in the past may not be good candidates for sclerotherapy, depending on the circumstances. People who have been diagnosed with a hole in their heart may be at increased risk for complications from sclerotherapy. Be sure to discuss these issues with your vein care specialist if they apply to you.
Recovery and Prognosis
Your vein care specialist will provide you with instructions of how to take care of yourself after the procedure is complete. Keeping the treated veins compressed has been shown to improve the success of sclerotherapy treatments. You will need to avoid hot baths and saunas, take a cooler shower than what you are used to, and wash the injection sites with soap and water. The prognosis for sclerotherapy is between 50 percent and 80 percent improvement in the appearance of the veins with each session.
Risks and Side Effects
While sclerotherapy is a safe and quick procedure, it does have some risks and side effects. This includes veins becoming hard or lumpy, raised areas near the injection site, bruising, allergic reactions to the injecting agent, swelling, itching, blood clots, inflammation, and the possibility of small ulcers forming near the injection site.
Michigan vein treatment, including sclerotherapy, helps you reduce the appearance of spider veins in as little as one vein clinic session. It is minimally invasive, done in less than an hour and gets you back to normal activities almost immediately. This is the best option available for treating spider veins.