Now that Halloween has gone its spooky way, spiders should, too…at least those spiders squiggling around on your legs — spider veins. Spider veins are the bane of many Houston women. They make us not want to put on a pair of shorts, or a golf skort. They even make us think twice about going poolside on a hot day.
That’s why now is a great time to get rid of your spider veins when the weather is cooling off, and we’re wearing more long pants. Dr. Kronberg uses sclerotherapy to put an end to spider veins.
What are spider veins?
Spider veins aren’t deep on your legs. That’s why you can see their purple, blue, or red squiggliness coursing about on the surface of your skin. Unlike varicose veins, which are large enough to push the skin upward, making a visible bulge on the skin, spider veins are small and thin. But they are very visible!
Spider veins begin to develop on our legs as we age. The support tissues that help push the blood through the veins back up to the heart become weaker with age. As they weaken, they provide less support to the veins, so blood pools just a bit in certain veins. This results in both spider veins and varicose veins. The difference between the two is the amount of pooled blood.
What is sclerotherapy?
Sclerotherapy is not a new solution for spider veins. It was first used way back in the 1930s. But when something works, why change? Different methods such as lasers have been tried on spider veins, but sclerotherapy is still the best solution.
With sclerotherapy, Dr. Kronberg injects a special saline solution into the tiny blood vessels. The saline solution irritates the wall of the vein, causing it to collapse inward and close off. When the vein is closed, the body goes about the business of absorbing it. With most spider veins, they are visibly lessened as soon as Dr. Kronberg injects them. Then as the body eats them up and disposes of them, they fully go away in two to three months. For most spider veins just a single injection is needed to banish them to the netherworld.
What happens afterward?
After your spider vein session, Dr. Kronberg will put you in some compression stockings. You’ll wear these for two weeks except during sleep. The pressure helps the body start the process of disposing of the closed-off veins. Plus, it minimizes any light bruising.
Now’s the time to banish your spider veins to Charlotte’s Web. Call Dr. Kronberg at 713-771-8941 to make an appointment.
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