How can I remove the spider veins on my legs?
Dermatologist Dr. Heidi Waldorf explains the different treatment options available to remove spider veins from your legs. Watch Dr. Waldorf's video for tips and information on skin health.
Transcript
For the person who just has a few small vessels, one of the things I recommend is that they start to wear support hose.
The goal is to try to keep those vessels from spreading and expanding, especially if you're someone who's either
pregnant-- and they make special maternity support hose-- or if you're someone who's on your feet all day at work-- teachers, nurses, doctors--
can really use support hose to cut down on those vessels getting worse. Once you have the vessels, the most effective way
to treat them is with sclera therapy. We've been doing sclerotherapy for years. It's a process where we use a tiny needle
to inject an otherwise irritating solution into the vessels to close down those vessels.
Now, in the past, that was generally painful and could have some serious side effects.
Now we have a breakthrough new product called Asclera, which, because it is also an anesthetic,
can be used to safely and effectively do the treatment with a lot less pain and risk.
When you do sclerotherapy, you have to anticipate that you may need multiple treatments. And the vessels do not go away immediately.
It generally takes four to eight weeks to see the results of any given treatment. Lasers have also been used for sclera, for leg veins.
Lasers have also been used for leg veins. But in general, for most of the vessels, it is less consistent and less effective.
I generally will use lasers for patients who are needle phobic or for patients for whom sclerotherapy is not an option
or for whom sclero has been ineffective. If you have larger vessels, the varicose veins, then you really
need to see a physician who does the larger procedures, like vein stripping, called phlebectomy,
or something called endovenous laser or radiofrequency, where
a device is threaded up through those large vessels to close them off where the
circulatory system
Browse videos by topic categories
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
ALL