Laser vein treatment works

Until recently for women with spider veins – vein treatment was mainly confined to sclerotherapy – a lengthy process involving needles.

Not pleasant for anyone with needle phobia.  Now new advances in technology have made vein treatment easier, less painful and more effective for those of us who prefer gain without the pain.

Laser vein removal uses the concentrated power of the latest lasers to destroy spider or thread veins.

With laser treatments it is possible to target – with pin point accuracy – just one single thread vein or a spider vein cluster. Even better laser treatments destroy the spider vein without doing any damage to the surrounding tissue.

Many laser vein treatments make use of both laser energy and Intense Pulsed Light or IPL. Whilst, lasers emit energy at a specific wavelength in one single intense beam of light IPL is broadband light energy which means that large areas and spider vein clusters can be treated with one single burst.

When you have laser treatementsfor spider veins -  light energy is delivered through a small laser hand piece to each targeted spider vein, in a series of brief pulses.

The light energy generates heat which causes  the blood to coagulate or clot and this coagulated blood is subsequently absorbed by the body over time.

All treatments of this type should be done in a doctor’s office with trained and experienced personnel – either a physician or a fully supervised laser technician.

Laser vein removal requires more than one visit – usually three to five at monthly intervals to allow the spider veins to respond.  A treatment plan will be worked out for you at the outset based on how many spider veins you have and how deeply coloured the clusters are.

Laser vein removal shouldn’t be painful and no anesthetic is required although there is slight discomfort from the laser hitting the skin.

Some people describe it as similar to an elastic band being snapped against the skin.  The area treated will warm up and you may feel a “prickly” sensation.  Cooling gels will be applied to the skin to relieve the warming sensation.

Total treatment time should be around 15-20 minutes per session and you can carry on with normal activity immediately after each laser treatment.

Laser vein removal results are good in the vast majority of cases with a 90% or over success rate but results don’t always happen overnight.

Some people are amazed to see their spider veins largely disappearing after one or two sessions but for others success is only visible after all the laser treatments are finished.

Costs will vary but expect to pay more if a qualified physician carries out the treatments or if you require specialised or extensive treatment for your spider veins.

In some cases, your doctor may advise combining laser treatments and scelerotherapy for a better result where your spider veins are particularly deep or larger than normal.

Whilst laser vein treatment doesn’t come cheap, it is probably a small price to pay for the boost to your confidence the results will bring.   Most laser vein removal is successful and doesn’t require any further vein treatment later – particularly if you make some small lifestyle changes to aid recovery.

To make doubly sure, you can follow our list of steps to take after your treatment.

There’s really no point paying out for vein treatment if you don’t do everything possible to make sure those spider veins don’t come back!

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