Spider Vein Therapy

Facial telangiectasias are very fine, superficial veins that have become permanently dilated and visible. Spider veins, or telangiectasias, affect as many as 80% of all women, and a large percentage of men as well. In the past, there was little you could do about spider veins. But now laser technology has revolutionized treatments so that many spider veins can be virtually erased.

Laser treatments for telangiectasias depend on the quantity, size and depth of the veins. Most patients need between one and three 15-minute sessions. In most cases only one treatment is necessary. Sessions are usually spaced 6 weeks apart and are performed in our office without the costs of hospitalization or general anesthesia. The laser treatment itself feels like numerous small snaps with a rubber band. Patients do not require anesthesia during the procedure.
The appearance of the treated area immediately after a laser session will vary from patient to patient, depending on the extent of treatment. Immediate after-effects, if any, are minor. They may include redness or purple in color, light crustiness or tenderness which only lasts a few days. Patients are able usually to conceal the treated areas the very next day with make-up.

A laser works by producing a beam of highly concentrated light. Different types of lasers produce different colors of light. The color of light produced by a particular laser is the key to the laser's effect on telangiectasias. Specific colors or pigments in the skin absorb different colors of light; for example, hemoglobin, found in blood, absorbs yellow-green light. The laser's light energy seals the vein shut and the body reabsorbs the now-diminished telangiectasias.
The VersaPulse© Aesthetic Laser used by The Plastic Surgery Center of Dallas produces short, adjustable pulses of light to treat a wide range of vessel diameters at various skin depths. The adjustable pulses minimize the risk of the purplish bruising that is the side effect of other lasers, therefore, making the healing time much quicker.