How Long Do Vein Injections Last? And Other Vein Treatment FAQs

The term vein injections refers to a minimally invasive procedure known as “sclerotherapy.” During sclerotherapy, the vein doctor injects a sclerosant medicine into spider veins to turn them into scar tissues eventually metabolized by the body. Once the sclerosant medicine is injected into spider veins, it takes approximately 3 weeks for the spider veins to disappear. The spider veins will initially darken and harden, and it might seem like your spider veins are worsening, but they’ll soon get absorbed by the body and fade away from the skin’s surface. The treated veins won’t return — sclerotherapy ensures long-lasting and permanent results.

However, while the same spider veins won’t return, you may develop new spider veins, especially if your vein doctor doesn’t diagnose and treat the root cause of your vein problems. Spider veins are dense clusters of damaged blood vessels that appear on the skin’s surface. They’re usually symptomatic of chronic venous insufficiency, a medical condition wherein the collapse of vein valves leads to backward blood circulation and the accumulation of blood in leg veins. As blood continues accumulating in leg veins, the leg veins dilate and turn into spider veins. Sclerotherapy vein injections treat spider veins — but not the underlying vein disease.

If your vein doctor only treats spider veins without addressing the root cause, there’s a high risk of spider vein recurrence, i.e., new spider veins will appear because the root cause hasn’t been treated. That’s why patients seeking spider vein treatments at medical spas have a high rate of recurrence — medical spas generally only treat spider veins without performing a thorough evaluation. If you have spider veins, you must contact a reliable medical center for vein treatment in California. Your vein doctor must use duplex ultrasound tests to diagnose chronic venous insufficiency and treat the root cause of spider veins — not just the symptoms.

Sclerotherapy vein injections produce permanent results, but a thorough diagnosis and treatment for underlying vein disease will also prevent new spider veins from occurring. Please schedule an appointment to explore your spider vein treatments in California.

Sclerotherapy vein injections are extremely simple, in-office procedures. The vein doctor delivers the sclerosant medicine into the injection site or treated area, which takes 15 to 30 minutes, following which you can resume your daily activities. Your spider veins will look darker after the treatment because the sclerosant medicine will turn them into hardened scar tissues. Over time, your body will metabolize the scar tissues and expel them from the body as waste. The entire process may take several weeks. As such, it takes around 3 weeks for vein injections to work, and larger veins may even take 3 to 4 months.