What is Sclerotherapy?
About 55% of women and 40 to 45% of men have to deal with some vein problem in their lives. When spider veins appear, they can be especially noticeable and embarrassing.
This is often a treatment for varicose veins. Sclerotherapy for spider veins is a treatment as well. This procedure is a minimally-invasion outpatient procedure. It involves injecting a solution directly into the vein. This causes the vein to scar and collapse. Forcing blood to reroute through healthier veins. The collapsed vein is reabsorbed into local tissue and eventually fades.
Telangiectasia is the medical term for spider veins and broken capillaries. These may appear anywhere on the body, typically around the legs. The causes of spider veins on the face may differ from the causes on the legs or other areas. The red or bluish threads are injured veins or capillaries. Spider veins are usually harmless. However, some people have a cosmetic concerns over the condition.
Candidates For Sclerotherapy
Several conditions factor into venous deficiency. This can lead to the development of spider veins. The deficiency comes from a back-flow of blood in the veins. This causes damage to the lining of the vessel walls. Prolonged inflammation, high blood pressure, and obesity are some of the causes of venous deficiency. Sometimes, a non-medical condition causes a venous deficiency. Rubbing or washing the face too hard can cause broken capillaries. Especially around the eye area.
Age is also a contributing factor that causes the weakening of veins and skin. And aging skin can make spider veins more noticeable. Generally, smaller spider veins are reddish, and larger spider veins are bluish. The color of the spider vein stems from the repair capabilities of the veins affected. The broken capillary in younger skin can delegate its function to a larger vein and remain reddish until it repairs. Aging capillaries may not be able to depend on larger veins to do the job if the larger veins are also broken and weak.
Sclerotherapy Procedure
During the ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy procedure, an active agent is injected into the veins. The active agent used in this treatment is a sclerosant. This solution irritates the lining of the vessel, causing it to swell. This swelling cuts off the flow, and the vessel shrinks.
The number of veins injected in one session is decided by the vascular surgeon. Due to the veins needing to reroute blood, sometimes maybe needed between vein injections. The intervening period between sessions ensures that the blood supply is not upset. Treating too many veins at one time puts forth the risk of inducing too much pressure on the adjacent vessels. Thus, the injections are gradually administered in succession during every session.
After each procedure, skin reddening, bruising, and blistering may occur. These side effects subside over a few weeks to a few months. Most patients resume normal activity with little to no side effects. However, you will need to protect the injection site from sun exposure.
Sclerotherapy Facts
- During the sclerotherapy procedure, chemicals are injected into smaller veins. This damages the inner lining and produces a blood clot. As the blood clot is reabsorbed, the vessel is permanently obliterated.
- The choice of the chemical sclerosing agent and its physical form depending on the size of the vessel treated.
- Treatment of the correct vessels can improve the symptoms of venous insufficiency.
- Small superficial vessels are often destroyed for cosmetic reasons.
For additional information on the sclerotherapy treatments, please contact the professional staff here at Coastal Vascular!