Laser Vein Removal is a procedure that reduces the visibility and the number of superficial 'spider veins' that are present in the legs or face . The medical term for this condition is Telangectasia. They have been noted in pregnancy, vitamin B deficiency, and estrogen excess, and varicosity.   Spider veins in the face can be caused by sun damage, age, and heredity. The standard treatment for these problems has been Sclerotherapy and Electrocautery.   Sclerotherapy is the injection of certain scar producing substances into the lumen of the vessel in order to obliterate them. Electrocautery uses heat to do the same thing. Both of these procedures have their own advantages and disadvantages. Sclerotherapy remains the standard for treatment of prominent veins in the leg. However with laser vein ablation, the laser selectively heats and coagulates the vessels. This is a much more specific treatment of veins and thus has a very low incidence of adverse affects.

Many individuals interested in laser vein removal have already had other procedures to eliminate these unsightly veins. However, they soon find out that no matter what technique is chosen for removal of these veins the affects are not permanent. New veins continue to form in the legs and replace the ones that were ablated. The fact remains that none of the techniques for vein removal are able to permanently eliminate the appearance of new veins.   Even the veins that have been treated may sometimes return with the same severity. The lasers that are used for vein ablation reduce the size and number of these veins however they cannot prevent your body from forming new ones.   Clusters of veins become sparser or less visible, but complete elimination is unlikely.

We usually perform this procedure in our office.   The skin of the area to be treated with the laser is cleaned and shaved. The laser light causes coagulation of the blood inside the vessels. This in turn causes scarring and closing down of these channels of blood. Several generations of lasers have been introduced in the past several years. Selective ablation of tissue is the mechanism of inducing injury in most lasers. Different target cells are affected by different wavelengths.

After this procedure there will be a small amount of swelling and redness in the area that was lasered.   Your skin may appear as having 'cat scratches'. But this will quickly resolve in a few days. You do not need any down time with this procedure. This is really something you can do and go back to work the next hour.

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