Swollen veins behind your legs are a sign of poor blood circulation in the leg area. This is caused by weakened valves that cannot pump all the blood back to the heart leading to formation of clots.
If you have spider veins, there’s no cause for alarm. There is a range of minimally invasive techniques to help get rid of them. These treatments are also designed to take care of pain and fatigue among other complications.
What Are The Causes Visible Veins?
Visible veins occur when valves become too weak and fail to push blood towards the heart. This results in some blood flowing back and accumulating on the veins, thus increasing pressure on their walls. As more pressure builds up, it leads to the weakening of veins forcing a bulge at the back of your legs. Other notable causes of spider veins are hormonal imbalance, injury, and exposure to sunlight. Methods used for Spider vein removal takes different approaches as discussed below
What Are Your Options?
Sclerotherapy is a popular nonsurgical procedure used in the treatment of spider veins. The use of laser therapy is recommended in cases where the veins are small and located around the face or ankles. People often confuse varicose and spider veins. Spider veins are bulging, larger, and have dark pigmentation while varicose are lumpy, bluish, and appear to be twisted.
How Are Spider Veins Treated?
Treatment options available for patients will range from personal care, laser treatment, and Sclerotherapy.
- Personal Care
Reputable dermatologists should give you tips on how to manage blood circulation by using any or all of the following suggestions:
- Routine exercise
- Leg elevation when sleeping
- Avoid sitting for extended periods. It is recommended that you walk after every half an hour
- Avoid standing for more extended periods. A break at every 30 minutes is recommended
- Do not soak in hot baths for longer periods.
The use of compression socks helps maintain blood flow back to the heart as this reduces the swelling in the legs. The personal care approach will only prevent new occurrences but does not affect the existing ones.
- Laser Treatment
Dermatologists use laser beam directed at your veins that makes the veins disappear almost immediately. Larger veins may still be visible for up to 3 months. Permanent Spider vein removal requires that you attend three or more laser treatments. If you need to resume normal activities the following day, then you compression socks are your best bet. The areas subjected to laser treatments need to be protected from direct sunlight for three to four weeks.
- Sclerotherapy
This treatment is the most common for spider veins. Scientists have proven that sclerotherapy is safe and has better results. Being subjected to sclerotherapy means that:
- You will have different areas of the vein injected using a chemical solution followed by a massage on the injected area
- You will be given a compression stocking while you undergo observation and soon after discharged.
- To help reduce the chances of side effects, you are advised to take daily walks and follow the doctor’s advice on how to use the compression socks.
After treatment, it is important to note that any form of management given above should be able to get rid of spider veins but cannot prevent the occurrence of new ones.
