HOW MANY TREATMENTS WILL YOU NEED?

You should expect at least 2 - 4 treatments for successful treatment of leg veins. These can be done every 4 weeks-6 weeks. I do not treat sooner than every 4-6 weeks as the vein is still undergoing changes the previous treatment.

I start with a weaker concentration of solution and increase the strength based on response. The best results require patience. It is necessary to use lower concentrations or you may get small ulcers over the treated vein, pigmentation at the treated site, or more spider veins develop in the treated site due to too much inflammation from the sclerosant.

It seems spider veins are so small that they should respond quickly but these are often the most difficult to treat. Because they have such a small diameter they are under a lot of pressure and do not want to “stay closed” after treatment. This is especially true of spider veins in the outer thigh.

WILL YOU NEED MORE TREATMENTS AT A LATER DATE?

Varicose veins including spider veins are a chronic problem. You developed these because of certain risk factors such as heredity discussed in the first paragraph. Veins can be successfully treated with the measures discussed above but because these factors are still in place you can get more veins even at the site of those previously treated. Therefore, it is not uncommon that you may need further sclerotherapy even after successful treatment.

However, with treatment of existing varicose veins we will not only address that vein but also tend to slow down the formation of other varicose veins. By following the guidelines in “conservative measures” you can further slow this process.