Seeking out varicose veins treatment can be an intimidating process, and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there. If you’re ready to improve the appearance of your veins, Worcester Dermatology of Worcester, MA, is ready with information and solutions for your concerns.
Varicose Veins Treatment: How Quickly Do You Get Results?
Right Around Three Weeks
When it comes to varicose veins treatment, we offer both laser vein treatment and sclerotherapy. The time it takes to see your results can vary slightly between the two treatments, but a good rule of thumb is to expect a visual improvement after three weeks.
Two or Three Weeks After Laser Vein Treatment
With laser vein treatment, each session takes about 20 minutes. For some patients, one session is enough to address their concerns. Others may experience their best results if they come back for a follow-up treatment six weeks later. This partly depends on how many veins are being treated.
Your veins should begin to approve in appearance after about two or three weeks. In some cases, wearing compression stockings after your treatment can help make the process even more effective.
Three Weeks After Sclerotherapy
Like laser vein treatment, you may also find yourself benefitting from a few follow-up sessions of sclerotherapy in order to get the results you’re looking for. Once the vein is treated, the body will dispose of it.
Since this process takes some time, right around that three-week mark you can expect to see results really beginning to show. Results will continue to improve over time until the vein disappears.
Which Treatment Should I Choose?
During a consultation, we’d be happy to go over your needs and give you our recommendation on which treatment we feel would work best. If we determine the laser used for our laser treatment isn’t compatible with your skin type, we may recommend you choose sclerotherapy instead. On the other hand, laser treatment may be the ideal choice if the vessels you want to be addressed are too small for sclerotherapy injections.
After going over your options, you may decide you want to combine the two treatments. Pairing laser vein therapy and sclerotherapy together can make for a powerful team, especially if you want to treat varicose veins and spider veins at the same time.
FAQ for Varicose Veins Treatment
1. What Areas Can Be Treated?
Laser vein treatment can be used anywhere varicose veins pop up, which is usually the legs. However, laser vein treatment is also a safe and effective way to reduce the appearance of facial veins.
Patients who seek out sclerotherapy most commonly want their legs treated. That said, other areas of the body can be treated as well.
2. What Is Treatment Like?
Laser Vein Treatment
Before your laser vein treatment, we’ll give you a pair of goggles to protect your eyes. A cooling gel may also be applied to the treated area.
After your quick 20 minute session, you’ll be good to go! There’s no downtime associated with this varicose veins treatment. We’ll give you any guidelines you may need to get the most out of your treatment, which may include the use of compression garments if we feel it would be helpful.
Sclerotherapy
For this treatment, a very small needle is used to inject a sclerosing agent into the problematic vein. The most common agents used are Asclera or Hypertonic Saline.
This simple process leads to the treated vein collapsing inwards as the sclerosing agent disrupts the lining of the vein. In a few weeks, your body will reabsorb the vein and it will no longer be visible through the skin.
3. Can We Treat More Than Varicose Veins?
Laser Vein Treatment is great for spider and varicose veins, but that’s not all it can do. It may also help improve the appearance of other skin concerns, such as:
- Uneven pigmentation
- Dermatosis papulosa nigricans
- Broken capillaries
- Redness from rosacea
- Cherry spots
Sclerotherapy has also been used for several different concerns. It may be able to treat malformed lymph vessels and hemorrhoids. It is also sometimes used to treat hydroceles, which can happen when the body collects fluid around the testicles.
4. How Are Varicose Veins and Spider Veins Different From Each Other?
The good news is, we treat both! In fact, while one can’t develop into the other, they do have enough in common that a lot of the same treatments can be used for both of them.
Spider veins and varicose veins are both caused by damaged valves and considered a kind of venous insufficiency. Size and symptoms tend to differentiate the two, with varicose veins being larger, deeper, and easier to feel under the skin.
5. Can Varicose Veins Go Away Without Treatment?
Exercising to increase your circulation is certainly beneficial to your health, but it may not improve the appearance of varicose veins. Once they show up, varicose veins do tend to become more visible over time.
Rather than trying out a bunch of at-home remedies that offer questionable results at best, if the appearance of your veins is affecting your confidence, we can offer professional, proven help.
A Dedicated Staff and Trusted Solutions
If you’re ready to learn more about how we can help you, we would be happy to answer your questions during a consultation. Request your consultation online at Worcester Dermatology in Worcester, MA to discover how we can help you reach your goals.