No one likes aging. Well, maybe your three-year-old, who thinks adults get to stay up all night and do everything fun after he or she goes to bed. Little do they know, of course, that most of us adults can’t wait to go to bed! Otherwise aging doesn’t have many fans.
One of the unfortunate visual signs shows up on our legs in the form of purple, blue, and red squiggly lines coursing about. They can make you avoid wearing shorts or even taking the kids to Lagoon-a-Beach for fear of donning a swimsuit and showing the world your…spider veins.
Ugh. Spider veins are ugly and annoying. Though usually not painful, they are a pain and you want to be rid of them. Fortunately, Dr. Jensen is an expert in eradicating spider veins with either laser treatment or sclerotherapy.
What causes spider veins?
Veins are the routes for the blood to return to the heart. And sometimes they have a real fight with gravity. This is especially true in the legs, where the blood needs to go directly up the leg. As we age, the strength of the support tissues and even of the veins themselves can diminish. This can cause the blood to back up and pool in spots. This shows itself in spider and varicose veins. Because spider veins are just below the surface of the skin they are very visible. Varicose veins are usually larger and deeper.
What is sclerotherapy?
Other than being somewhat of a tongue twister, sclerotherapy is an effective method for removing unwanted veins on your legs. First developed way back in the 1930s, Dr. Jensen still uses sclerotherapy as one method for removing spider veins for a simple reason — it works.
Sclerotherapy is a simple process. Dr. Jensen uses a very small needle and injects a saline solution into the vein in question. The saline irritates the wall of the vein. This irritation causes the vein wall to collapse and shut off any blood in the vein. This minimizes the appearance of the vein instantly, and the body eventually absorbs it. Any blood that was routed through the vein is instantly rerouted to other, healthier veins.
What is laser therapy?
The other method for dealing with the unwanted purple squiggly lines is to direct laser energy onto them. Dr. Jensen first sets the laser wavelength to match the color of the targeted vein. Then the laser energy is directed onto the skin. The light energy penetrates the epidermis and is absorbed by the spider vein, where it converts to heat. This heat collapses the vein wall and closes it off.
Afterwards
After your spider vein treatment you may have bruising at the injection sites with sclerotherapy. This isn’t true with laser treatment. Depending on the number of veins you had treated, Dr. Jensen may opt to have you wear compression stockings for two weeks during waking hours. This compression improves your results so most veins need only treatment session to disappear.
March is a great time to say goodbye to your spider veins with Dr. Jensen. Your legs will be ready for summer, without the purple squiggles. Call us at (801) 728-9258 to make your appointment.