Laser Vein Treatment

Varicose veins on the legs and arms are simply too thick to be removed with a laser. These distensions beneath the skin they are usually removed with conventional invasive plastic surgery that involves their excision. If you are an individual that has both varicose and spider veins then your plastic surgeon will recommend that you have the varicose veins removed before you consider having the spider veins removed with laser surgery. This is because varicose veins are a priority. They are classified as dead veins and are usually quite painful. Doing laser surgery on the skin first s can cause all kinds of discomfort and complications. Also if you treat spider veins without removing the varicose veins first, the spider veins will just return shortly after the treatment.

Another reason why you should get your varicose veins removed before you get laser vein treatment is because sometimes the small spider veins disappear once the big veins are removed. This of course will minimize your cost of having the spider veins removed with a secondary vein treatment.

Lasers that are used on spider vaporize the tissue. The heat and pulsation from the laser light causes small to medium sized veins to shrink and disappear. A skin-surfacing laser that emits short, intense pulses of light is used. Laser skin resurfacing is also known as a laser peel, laser vaporization or lasabrasion. Laser vein treatment causes a controlled injury to the skin that causes the veins to vanish and new skin cells to flourish in its place.

Your doctor may also recommend that the vein treatment surgery be done with an erbium laser. Erbium laser resurfacing was developed to minimize the risk of burning the surrounding tissues. The benefit of vein treatment with this type of laser is that it causes less post-operative side effects such as swelling, bruising and redness. This laser works best for small areas on the body with minor clusters of spider veins such as the face.

Laser vein treatments are a bit painful and people who experience them often compare the feeling of the laser buzzing against the skin to hot bacon grease or to a rubber band snapping against the skin. Afterwards you may also feel a burning or stinging sensation that lasts for a few days.

One thing to be psychologically prepared for is the appearance of the spider veins immediately after the laser vein treatment. Immediately following the treatment the veins may look darker than usual but this effect usually disappears within a week. It usually takes between six and eight weeks for the spider veins to disappear altogether.