Here in Florida, we’re lucky enough to be able to wear shorts and skirts year-round thanks to our warm temperatures, but you find yourself hiding your legs thanks to spider veins.
If you want to know why these unsightly veins developed and what we can do to get rid of them, Dr. Ariel Soffer and our team at Soffer Health Institute take a closer look at spider veins here.
First, we want to emphasize that spider veins are common and generally don’t pose any problems medically speaking.
Also called telangiectasia, spider veins occur when tiny blood vessels burst or make their way toward the surface of your skin, forming thin, spindly blue, red, or purple lines. Most spider veins develop in your legs and on your face.
The reasons for spider vein formation vary, but here are the most common:
Women are twice as likely as men to develop spider veins, and 41% of females in the United States who are 50+ years old have spider veins.
There are several reasons why women are more prone to spider veins, including pregnancy and hormones. First, pregnancy places more pressure on the veins in your legs and, second, women go through fluctuations in their reproductive hormones that lead to spider veins.
Your family tree plays no small role in whether you develop spider veins, as up to 90% of people with spider veins have a family history of the condition.
As you age, the tiny, one-way valves in your legs can weaken, which allows blood to pool in your lower extremities, which leads to spider and varicose veins.
If you sit at your desk for hours on end or you have a job that requires you to stand most of the time, this can make it more difficult for blood to flow easily back up to your heart.
When you’re carrying extra weight, your vascular system has to work harder to deliver oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to your body. This extra burden may make you more susceptible to problematic veins like spider veins.
No matter how your spider veins developed in the first place, the good news is that we offer effective solutions for clearing your skin of this unwanted web.
After a thorough vein evaluation, we can recommend the best treatment option. We offer the most advanced laser technology for breaking up spider veins, allowing your body to reabsorb the destroyed vein tissue. We also offer minimally invasive techniques for closing off the veins, as well as surgical options to remove the veins.
We perform all of these procedures here in our offices on an outpatient basis, which means you’re free to return home afterward.
To ensure that spider veins won’t reappear in your legs, we also supply you with a few lifestyle recommendations that can prevent them from forming, such as using compression stockings.
If you have more questions about spider veins or you’d like to find out which treatment is best for your problematic veins, contact one of our offices in Weston, or Aventura, Florida, to set up an appointment.
