Submitted by Drs. Bohn, Nielsen, Castillo, and Ward, The Vein Specialists, LLC
Many people are a bit creeped out by spiders. We may dread having to squish one that’s found inside the house, it’s not uncommon for people to have nightmares about spiders crawling on their skin, and no one wants to frantically flail their arms and swipe their face to get rid of the webbing after walking smack dab into a giant spider web. Let’s just say that most people would be happy to never encounter a spider or the webs.
While October is the month for all things scary, spider veins on your legs don’t need to cause a fright. Like spiders, spider veins are usually harmless. However, the look of their squiggly, web-like appearance often causes women to dread putting on a swimsuit, a pair of shorts, or a golf skirt. Thankfully, you don’t need to be haunted by spider veins. There is a wizardly procedure and some magic potion that can easily rid your legs of those pesky veins.
Sclerotherapy is an ideal solution to get rid of spider veins. Sclerotherapy is a medical procedure that involves an injection of a solution—the sclerosant—directly into the affected vein. The solution damages the inner lining of the vein. The vein collapses, the treated vein is reabsorbed into the surrounding tissue, and blood is rerouted through healthier surrounding veins.
Sclerotherapy is a non-invasive outpatient procedure that usually takes no more than 30–45 minutes. It can effectively treat up to 80 percent of damaged veins with each session. For patients suffering from pain with spider veins, it can alleviate pain. For varicose vein treatment, it can eliminate the associated pain and swelling as well as eliminate unsightly bulging of the veins.
Once treatments conclude, patients are able to drive themselves home and resume normal activities. Patients will be asked to wear compression hose overnight the first night and then while up and about for 2 weeks. They are also to avoid prolonged sun exposure. That’s why now—when the weather is cooler and it’s easier to wear long pants—is an ideal time to banish those itsy bitsy spider veins.
While sclerotherapy is an effective and appropriate therapy for many patients, different conditions and circumstances may require different approaches. Today, there are a wide variety of minimally or non-invasive treatment options for venous disorders.
Schedule a complimentary evaluation at the ONLY FULL-TIME Vein Clinic in downstate Illinois and see if they can help your spider veins magically disappear. Call The Vein Specialists at (309) 862-4000 or visit them online at www.ILveins.com. They have convenient locations at 3302 Gerig Drive in Bloomington or 2011 Rock Street in Peru.