Spider veins form when excess blood backs up in the blood stream. The body releases this pressure by developing new veins. Not only are spider veins unsightly, but they can also cause aching, swelling, burning, and night cramps in the legs. There are many factors that contribute to the development of these unsightly veins including pregnancy, weight gain, prolonged standing, and genetic predisposition.
Red, blue or purple leg and facial veins can be a result of sun exposure, use of oral contraception, hormone therapy, age or genetics.
Reticular veins are those blue veins that lie well below the skin's surface and are larger than the spider veins. They often are the source of spider veins and must also be removed in order to achieve a long-term result in your treatment.
Varicose veins are quite large, and tend to bulge with a rope-like texture on the skin's surface. They are likely to cause pain and be related to more serious vein disorders. Varicose veins are usually best treated by a vascular surgeon. The preferred techniques to treat spider and reticular veins are either laser or injection (sclerotherapy) vein removal. Laser treatment can quickly and safely eliminate veins on your thighs, calves, and ankles. Whether these veins are small, thin capillaries (spider veins) or larger veins that we call reticular veins.
Most patients describe a tingling sensation during the brief time the laser is actually firing. However, because we offer cooling systems and topical anaesthetic cream, our patients are quite comfortable during their treatments.

The treatment causes only minimal discomfort. Any redness or swelling should be gone within a day and you'll be able to resume normal activities immediately.

Laser vein removal is surprisingly easy, fast, and effective. The laser light achieves vein removal by destroying the vein without burning the skin above. The laser shoots a concentrated beam of light that passes through your surface skin and is preferentially absorbed by the hemoglobin in the vein. When the light is absorbed, it is converted to heat. As the vein is gently heated (a process that occurs in 50 milliseconds or 1/20th of a second), the walls of the vein collapse and thus blood flow is stopped. Over a period of three to four weeks, the vein is re-absorbed by the body and disappears. Treatment time usually varies between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on the size of the area treated.

The treatments are long-lasting but they may not be permanent. While most patients achieve a significant reduction in the appearance of their veins and are very satisfied with the treatments, aging begins the moment the treatment ends. In addition, causative factors such as standing and genetics continue. We recommend a single yearly treatment to "clean up" any new veins that appear.

Typically only one or two treatments are required and results can be seen in 3-4 weeks.