Can Facial Varicose Veins Be Treated Using a Laser?

Most of the time, the blood is at low pressure since the blood with high pressure is that from the heart. In order for the blood to flow smoothly back to the heart in the veins, a majority have bicuspid valves to prevent backflow of blood. However, in some cases, due to non-functioning valves, blood might start to accumulate in the veins causing them to bulge outwards.

Veins that are affected become varicose, and any vein can become varicose. This can occur in almost all parts of the body, but it is more predominant in the legs due to the weight of the body. However, varicose veins also develop on the face in almost all the parts of the face, for example areas around the nose, ears, eye, cheek, and the forehead. Most of the time, the size of the varicose vein determines the treatment method and its classification. Mostly, small veins affecting the face are called spider veins.

Treatment options for spider veins and varicose veins.

For smaller infected veins, especially those less than three millimeters in width, lasers give excellent results. However, for anything bigger than three millimeters, a laser might not give optimum results. Since the face is under no pressure, most of the varicose veins that develop are small and thus are easily treated with lasers or sclerotherapy.

Facial vein treatment is more complicated than on the other parts of the body due to the sensitivity of the skin tissue on the face and also its sensitive organs like the eyes. However, injection methods like sclerotherapy are even riskier. There is a risk of the harmful chemicals getting into the blood vessels that feed these essential organs of the face and affect them in a negative way.

Precautions for the laser treatment of facial varicose and spider veins

• Wear protective goggles.
• Sometimes a metal shield might be required to be placed between the skin and the eye.
• Use cooling agents on the face due to the sensitivity of the tissues to avoid burns
• The treatment sessions should be between 15 to 20 minutes depending on the client’s skin type.
• Remove all makeup and moisturizers on the face.

Other options for the treatment of spider veins on the face

Vein wave

These are devices that deliver pinpoint heat on the affected veins without affecting the surrounding tissues. Their main advantage is that they can be used on a variety of skin types and colors with minimal risk of pigmentation or burning.

Radio frequency

The method uses a catheter that is inserted into the vein and then heated using radio frequency energy to cause the closing of the vein.

Intense pulsed light

As opposed to many lasers that use a single wavelength in the treatment process, IPL is effective since it uses different wavelengths. It is not as penetrative as the lasers.

Sclerotherapy

This treatment method is not highly recommended since the chemical substances injected into the affected area have been reported to cause blindness. People are also phobic when it comes to using needles on their face. However, with improved needles size and growing technology, sclerotherapy is being used to treat facial veins effectively.

Risk factors that can accelerate the growth of spider veins

While every person is prone to the conditions, the following factors might accelerate its cause:

Age

Aging causes most of the body muscles and tissues to wear out and this is not an exception to the valves in the veins.

Sex

Women undergo many hormonal changes during pregnancy, menopause, and menstruation. Change in hormones is a risk factor that can cause the development of spider veins.

Hereditary

A family line that has a regular occurrence of varicose veins leaves everybody in the lineage prone to the condition.

Obesity

Having more muscles and fat in the body puts the veins under more pressure and increases the chances of the valves getting damaged.

Wrap Up

Lasers are one of the best treatment methods for treating facial veins in the market today. There is no injection of chemical substances as in the case of sclerotherapy. Since most patients have needle phobias, it becomes even more difficult to target a one or two millimeter vein with a needle on the face.