Wearing pants during the winter in Florida may not be a big deal. But summer is always right around the corner and you don’t want to spend another one covered up because you’re embarrassed by the bulging road map of veins on your legs.
Matthew Zarraga, DO, and Khongruk Wongkittiroch, DO, at Z-ROC Dermatology want you to feel comfortable in your own skin, and can easily banish those leg veins to give you smoother legs you’ll want to show off all year.
When we talk about banishing leg veins, we mean varicose and spider veins, which are veins visible under your skin.
Varicose veins are the large gnarled veins that often develop on the legs. They’re very common, especially in women.
Spider veins are smaller blood vessels that appear as red or purple lines on your skin. In addition to your legs, spider veins can also appear on your face.
Varicose and spider veins both develop from a backup of blood. Your veins help push blood back to your heart and lungs for oxygenation. Tiny valves in your veins open and close as the blood moves through. Whether from damage or just wear and tear, these valves may not close properly, which causes the blood to pool and create the visible veins.
We offer a number of different treatments at Z-ROC to get rid of your leg veins.
The ICon IPL and 1064nm ND:Yag laser are aesthetic tools we use here at Z-ROC to improve the look of your legs. The laser energy from these tools zaps the vein and destroys it, causing it to disappear. Treatment usually takes 30 minutes or less.
These aesthetic tools usually work best on smaller varicose veins and spider veins. To ensure you get the smoothest legs, we may need to set up a series of sessions, but usually no more than four.
For larger veins, we may be able to use laser ablation, which is a minimally invasive treatment that uses laser or radiofrequency energy to close off the source of blood causing your bulging vein. It may take about a week for the vein to completely close, and by 12 months it should be completely gone.
We also offer sclerotherapy injections and ambulatory phlebectomy to remove your varicose veins.
During sclerotherapy, we inject a chemical into your vein that closes it off. It may take about three weeks for the vein to completely disappear, and you need two injections to get the best results. But sclerotherapy is very effective at banishing small and medium-sized leg veins.
For larger veins we use a foaming chemical in the same manner.
Ambulatory phlebectomy is an outpatient procedure in which we remove your veins through small puncture wounds that cause very little scarring. An ambulatory phlebectomy is very effective and provides fast results.
You may consider treatment for varicose veins as cosmetic, but it offers health benefits, too. Varicose veins are usually an underlying symptom that may indicate poor blood flow, also referred to as venous insufficiency, which can cause discomfort and the development of nonhealing leg ulcers.
Getting rid of your faulty veins may allow your body to create a better source of blood flow and improve the health of your feet and legs. To get rid of those varicose and spider veins in your legs, call Z-ROC Dermatology today for an appointment.
