3. Topical or Superficial Laser Treatment
Another type of spider vein treatment is the use of lasers (strong bursts of light energy). Lasers penetrate the skin to help the spider veins fade and disappear. These treatments work very well in combination with sclerotherapy, but in today’s day and age, I believe they are both mandatory because lasers will not take care of the underlying “feeding” vein that actually causes the spider veins. Unfortunately, there are many different types of lasers out there, and not all of them are designed to treat veins. I always tell my patients that if a skin-based laser or the wrong type of laser is used, this procedure can be painful, and that side effects could occur, including redness, swelling, hyper- or hypo-pigmentation of the skin, or even scarring.
4. VeinGogh (Ohmic Thermolysis)
This is the newest, most revolutionary treatment for spider veins, because it provides relatively immediate results with no bandaging or bruising, little, if any, discomfort, and no scarring. It can be done on any skin type and does not require hiding from the sun. Different from lasers, this uses a high-frequency microburst of energy delivered to the vein via a hair-thin probe. It works best on fine, tiny veins up to 0.3 mm, so it should still be combined with sclerotherapy for the larger or deeper veins, but it is great to clear up all the tiniest veins that used to be so difficult to manage. It can even treat skin tags, angiomas, and even the redness of rosacea.
5. Endovenous Treatments or Surgery
These treatments are not used for spider veins, but rather are reserved for the treatment of the larger, more severe varicose veins. Known as Laser Closure or Laser Ablation, a small catheter, or tube, is inserted into the vein through a needle, followed by a small device that produces heat (either from radio-frequency or laser energy) to seal the vein shut. Unlike the old-fashioned “vein stripping”, only local anesthesia is used, and this procedure can take place in a doctor’s office instead of a hospital. There is very little discomfort, and normal activities can be resumed within 1-2 days.
