What are Spider Veins?
Spider veins are the tiny pink and purple thread like veins that lie appear close to the surface of the skin. People who stand for long periods of time during the day for many years end up with spider veins on their legs and feet. Many of the spider veins with their unsightly short jagged patterns look like spiders and some are located in one general area while others are spread throughout both legs and feet. Spider veins are the earliest manifestations of venous diseases.
What causes Spider Veins?
Spider Veins are caused by many different factors such as where a person works, how heavy the person is, and the medical history of a family. For a person who stands for long number of hours such as a teacher, nurse, construction worker are more prone to vein problems. A heavier person is more likely to develop veins. Sometimes it depends on the medical history of clots, how physically fit the person is and what type of shoes or clothes the person wears can bring on the vein problems. Vein diseases affect more women than they do men and the veins become more of a problem as the women grow older.
Symptoms of Spider Veins
Before the veins begin to appear on the legs or feet, patients may start feeling pain or discomfort such as a cramping feeling in their legs and feet. The pain can be controlled by getting off their feet and putting their feet up in order to take the pressure off of them. The pain may only be the beginning of the symptoms of vein diseases, and patients can also develop restlessness in the legs, or a burning sensation and the legs can feel heavy. Once they put their legs up for an extended period of time, the symptoms will subside.
Diagnosis of Spider Veins
When patients start to experience the pain or discomfort of cramps in their legs and feet, they should see a doctor right away so a proper diagnosis can be done. A doctor will probably order x-rays or sonography (vascular ultrasound) to be done to determine if the veins are causing any problems with circulation. Many times if the veins are causing problems with circulation, this can be the cause of the pain and discomfort and they may develop into more serious problems such as varicose veins.
Spider Veins Treatment options
Many types of treatments are available but not all of them are effective. Getting off the feet can help to relief the symptoms of spider veins but it does not treat the problem. If you have to be on your feet due to family or work the best thing you can do is to wear support stockings that were ordered by a doctor. The support stockings can help to prevent blood clots that could move to a major organ if the veins are not taken care of medically when they were first noticed.
To burn the tiny spider veins, many clinics will provide some form of skin light therapy similar to the treatment of pigmentation or skin spots. However, spider veins do not react well to these procedures as spider veins resemble little streams that are connected to bigger stream further up. Closing the small stream without first closing the source of the stream will just allow for more flows to form later.
As spider veins may be a manifestation of a more serious problem, it is necessary to diagnose with a Sonography (vascular ultrasound) examination before deciding on the treatment options.
Find out more about Spider Veins and Treatment options
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Should I seek treatment for Spider Veins?
Spider veins may not just be a cosmetic issue, without treatment of the underlying factors, it can lead to other medical complications. For 60 to 70% of the patients with vein problems, it starts off with the appearance first. There are several reasons why you should seek treatment for your spider veins.
Discomfort and Aches: There may be no symptoms associated with your spider veins in the initial stages. It is likely that you have underlying varicose veins. As it becomes more severe, you may start to experience major discomfort such as aches, cramps and swelling.
Progressive Disease: There are many different types of treatments for venous diseases from the easiest remedies that can be done at home or more extreme measures that have to be done at the hospital. Some people are encouraged to lose weight, however if the veins are serious, losing weight may not be an option if the veins are affecting the circulation of the body.While compression stockings, medication, cream and leg elevation will alleviate the symptoms and prevent spider veins from getting worse, these treatments will not cure the disease. Sometimes the problems progress from spider veins, to varicose veins, and all the way to skin changes and ulcers. The medical term for this condition is Chronic Venous Insufficiency, which means the veins are not working well to bring the blood back from the legs to the heart.
Why choose treatments by our doctor?
Some patients may have spider veins with underlying varicose veins. It is therefore important to examine for any underlying problems.
Rather than just performing a cosmetic treatment for spider veins, our doctor focuses on treating the whole patient.
Our doctor also adopts the latest minimally invasive technology to reduce the recovery time for our patients.
Being among the few vascular and endovascular trained surgeons in Singapore, our doctor can provide comprehensive services from diagnosis to treatment.
During the assessment of your spider veins, our doctor will determine if you will need a Sonography (vascular ultrasound) examination to diagnose for issues in the veins hidden deeper in your legs.
This can be done onsite during the same consultation as he is able to do the ultrasound personally instead of making another appointment with a technician.
This allows our doctor to explain the results to you immediately and prescribe a customised treatment for you that is best suited for your body and preferences. The treatment can include varicose veins treatment such as Sclerotherapy.
