How to Have Nice Legs for Summer? Treatments for Spider Veins & Varicose Veins on Legs

As the Summer comes around, you may have an intense urge to wear shorts and tank tops or hit the beach in a bikini. But if you have spider veins and varicose veins, you may feel shy, uncomfortable, or self-conscious about going to the beach or to social events that necessitate wearing dresses or shorts. Spider veins and varicose veins can be a source of intense embarrassment and social anxiety, making people feel ashamed of their legs.

Spider veins and varicose veins are damaged blood vessels on the skin’s surface, but they’re not the same. Spider veins are dense clusters of damaged blood vessels that appear on the skin’s surface, usually just underneath the epidermis. Varicose veins are large blood vessels that protrude out of your skin’s surface, usually in a twisted, tangled, and knotted rope-like form. Patients often say varicose veins look like dense tree branches.

Most patients with spider veins and varicose veins feel self-conscious and conceal their skin underneath layers of clothes. Some even avoid going to beach parties and other social events, leading to self-imposed social isolation and anxiety. If you have spider veins and varicose veins, we encourage you to visit our medical centers for vein treatment in California to explore your vein treatment options.

Spider veins and varicose veins can be treated with simple in-office procedures that conclude within 30 minutes and involve no downtime. You can complete the treatment during your lunch break and then resume your daily activities immediately. If you seek vein treatment during the Winter season, you can be completely free from unhealthy spider veins and varicose veins by bikini season!

Please schedule an appointment to learn about vein treatments in California.

Chronic venous insufficiency is the primary root cause of most vascular lesions on the legs, including spider veins and varicose veins. Most people pursue vein treatments because they’re self-conscious about the appearance of spider veins and varicose veins. But treating vein disease is a far more important reason to undergo vein treatments.

Venous insufficiency is a medical condition wherein the collapse of vein valves leads to blood accumulation in leg veins. Healthy veins contain valves that act as one-way doors to ensure smooth blood circulation to the heart, usually against the force of gravity. When your vein valves collapse, gravity forces blood to flow backward and accumulate in the leg veins, eventually leading to spider veins and varicose veins.

Chronic venous insufficiency starts with mild symptoms, such as leg heaviness, leg pain, restless leg syndrome, frequent leg cramps, and leg swelling. But as more blood accumulates in leg veins, the symptoms of vein disease also escalate, eventually leading to skin discoloration, leg ulcers, and deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in leg veins). You should pursue minimally invasive vein treatments not just because they improve the appearance of your legs but because they prevent future complications.

During the primary vein treatment, the vein doctor administers local anesthesia to make a small incision on the skin’s surface. The vein doctor will use thermal energy (radiofrequency ablation), laser energy (laser ablation), or medical adhesives (venaseal) to close the diseased saphenous vein responsible for your vein problems rerouting the accumulated blood into healthier leg veins. These procedures will restore optimal blood circulation to the heart.

During the cosmetic vein treatment, the vein doctor may perform sclerotherapy, a procedure that involves injecting a sclerosant medicine into spider veins to fuse their walls shut. The spider veins shrink and turn into scar tissues eventually metabolized by the body, and they eventually fade away from the skin’s surface within a few weeks. You can resume your daily activities and work immediately after your vein treatment — no downtime.

If you want to have smooth thighs and smooth legs by Summer, you need to ideally undergo vein treatments during the winter months. Even though vein treatments conclude within an hour and don’t involve downtime, the results may appear gradually over several weeks and months. The primary vein treatment will immediately treat chronic venous insufficiency, but the spider veins will gradually disappear over several months.

When sclerotherapy is performed, the sclerosant medicine shrinks the unhealthy spider veins and turns them into hardened scar tissues. The scar tissues will make the spider veins look darker on your skin’s surface, so you may think your condition is worsening. But spider veins usually worsen before they improve after treatment. Over time, your body will metabolize the scar tissues, and the spider veins will fade away from your skin’s surface.

Furthermore, if you have a lot of spider veins, the vein doctor may also split your treatment into 2 or more sessions spaced a few weeks apart. Depending on your unique condition, it may take a few weeks or months for all the spider veins to disappear from your skin’s surface. If you undergo spider vein treatment in December or January, you can expect flawless legs by the Summer months.