Sclerotherapy
A chemical solution is injected, using a needle, into a dilated blood vessel. The chemical solution causes inflammation, which makes the walls of the vein stick together. Because of this, the treated vessel can no longer hold blood and it scars up and is eventually reabsorbed by the body. There are two types of sclerotherapy used, liquid and foamed. Foam is made by mixing the sclerotherapy solution with air or C02. The type used depends on the size or the vein or your presenting problems.
Some patients go back to work after being treated. Patients are told that they will look worse before they look better. With sclerotherapy, there is always bruising and clotting of treated veins.Some people clear up in 1- 2 treatments and some people require 5-6 treatments.
Laser
When the spider vein becomes the focus of treatment, generally for cosmetic reasons, the therapeutic use of light energy is a
possibility. Laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It uses high powered electromagnetic radiation (focused light) of one wavelength focused to heat one particular small spot of our skin and damage the
underlying spider vein. Although it would seem so easy to wand away the blemish, in fact, there are many things
which have to be accounted for to obtain the desired result. A partial list of important things to consider includes the amount of dark pigment in your skin (melanin), the size of the venule, the size of the light beam, the amount of energy given to the skin, scatter of the light when it hits the skin, potential skin damage and pain to the patient. Your doctor will consider each before choosing the correct laser to use. As an example, the deeper the doctor needs to penetrate the skin to hit the spider vein the longer the wavelength needed. Generally, shorter wavelengths (500-600 nm) will only go about 0.7 mm deep
(e.g. KTP laser, flashlamp pumped dye laser) while the longer wavelengths (1064 nm, Nd/Yag laser) will go up to 3 mm (one tenth of an inch or more) into the skin. The doctor will cool the skin during laser treatment to prevent burning (to prevent sunburn-like problems). Most doctors will not treat tanned skin because the increase in a certain
skin pigment (melanin) increases the absorption of the laser energy leading to tattooing.
In general, short bursts (in the millionth of a second range) are given to lessen the discomfort associated with the treatment. The spot size hit and thereby treated by the light is often much less than one half inch in diameter. Larger areas of the skin are treated by treating different spots without trying to overlap. It usually takes two to four visits to complete the job which, of course, depends on the number of spider veins being treated. Most reports on the laser treatment of spider veins shows 75% to 100% clearance of the abnormal color and distention of the spider veins noted before beginning the treatment. As with every treatment there can be problems (complications). The most frequently reported problems include a worse darkening of the blemish (hyperpigmentation), incomplete removal of the blemish, and treatment related pain. Clots with the spider veins have been reported as well as burns of various degrees.
donna@gigaalaser.com
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