Free Your Legs from Unsightly Veins

Posted on: September 11th, 2023 by Our Team

This article was edited by Rick Noodleman, MD

Got grey ropes of bulging veins marring your calves? Roadmaps of spidery red and purple lines zigzagging around your upper legs? No need to suffer embarrassment or cover up in long pants and maxi dresses.  As summer draws to a close in California, don’t let unsightly enlarged varicose veins or their smaller cousins, spider veins, keep you from enjoying some of California’s best shorts and swimsuit weather.

September also happens to be National Vascular Disease Awareness Month. That makes it an apt time to attend to explore your vein concerns with a board-certified dermatologist.

It’s Not Vain To Be Concerned About Varicose Veins.

While varicose veins and spider veins may be unsightly, most of the time they pose no immediate danger.

Signs to watch for include pain and swelling of varicose veins. Best bets for prevention include having your varicose veins evaluated and treated, a health safety measure often covered by insurance, and taking steps to prevent their recurrence such as wearing compression socks and elevating your legs when possible. Removing varicose veins and spider veins will likely improve blood circulation.

How Varicose Veins and Spider Veins Happen

Your veins work hard every second pumping blood up against gravity to your heart. Over time, due to heredity or with too much weight pushing against them, vein walls can get “tired” and stretched out making them wider and longer in appearance. Blood may flow backwards through weakened valves further enlarging the veins. This is technically called venous reflux or venous insufficiency.

Varicose Vein and Spider Vein Risk Factors

Being a biological female makes you more likely to develop both varicose veins and spider veins. Hormonal fluctuations triggered by pregnancy, menopause and/or birth control pills can contribute to damaged veins that are visible through the skin. But for any gender, several factors increase your risk:

Aging Simply being upright on the planet for many years places stress on your leg veins

Overweight Excess weight strains your entire system and can cause varicose veins and spider veins

Standing/Sitting Both standing and sitting for many hours takes some of the blame.

Heredity Varicose veins and spider veins tend to run in the family.  They affect 70% of all women and 60% of all men.

The Best Vein Treatment Options

California Skin Institute offers the most sophisticated minimally invasive treatments for eliminating varicose veins and spider veins. * Your California Skin Institute dermatologist will recommend the best treatment option for you after an initial examination that will include taking your personal and family medical history and mapping your varicose veins using ultra-sound technology.

Here are just a few of our vein treatment options.

Endovenous Closure is an innovative procedure to eliminate enlarged varicose veins without surgery or incisions covered by most insurance companies. More than aesthetic, it can improve vascular health by targeting veins deeper in the legs.

Gemini laser What makes the Gemini laser unique is that it was designed to specifically target unsightly blood vessels for elimination. It can dissolve the problematic blood vessels without affecting surrounding healthy skin cells.

Excel® V This new laser is extremely gentle and adept at breaking down spider veins and returning the skin to its natural color and tone. It can be adjusted to suit each person’s skin and includes a continuous cooling system to minimize discomfort.

Sclerotherapy  This saline-based treatment avoids lasers and works via tiny injections directly into the problem veins to shrink them. It is ideal for spider veins and smaller varicose veins.

VeinGogh VeinGogh is the easy way to reliably treat conditions of telangiectasia (also known as spider veins), including really tiny “blush veins”. Unlike IPL and most Lasers, VeinGogh can safely treat any skin type, including tanned skin.

Contact the California Skin Institute today to kickstart your way to smooth clear legs and improved vascular health.

* Individual Results May Vary