FACE VEINS (THREAD VEINS)

Facial Spider Vein Removal in Jumeirah, Dubai

Thread veins are tiny blood vessels which run close to the surface of the skin and look like fine red, or sometimes purple, wiggly lines. They’re also sometimes called ‘spider veins’ or ‘broken veins’, although the veins aren’t infact broken but only slightly enlarged. The medical term for them is telangiectasia.

Causes of face veins

Usually there’s no obvious cause. Thread veins tend to develop as we age and our skin and blood vessels become less elastic. Hormonal changes associated with pregnancy and the menopause are thought to provoke their development – the reason why women are more prone to them than men.

You can also inherit a family tendency to the problem. Other causes include too much sunbathing, exposure to wind or extreme temperatures, cortico-steroid medicines and radiotherapy. Jobs that involve prolonged standing may aggravate the condition, but they don’t actually cause it. Although you may not like the look of them, thread veins aren’t dangerous, but they tend to become larger and increase in number over time.

Who gets them? Nearly all of us as we age, apparently. Around one in five women in their 20s have thread veins, a figure that rises to around half by the age of forty and continues to increase. By the age of 70 over 70 per cent of women have some thread veins.

Dr Asad R. Shamma, specialist vascular surgeon and medical Director of SHAMMA Medical center advises treatment sooner rather than later. ‘Smaller thread veins are easy to treat. Later on they can be more difficult. Younger women could save themselves a great deal of time, trouble and expense if they opted for early treatment.

How are they treated

There are several options, lasertherapy, sclerotherapy or a mixture of both. Lasertherapy uses brief pulses of laser light to destroy smaller blood vessels. Several types of laser are used. A pulsed dye laser is best for thin red veins which are close to the skin’s surface. Deeper blue or purple veins need a laser with a longer wavelength (YAG laser) to reach them.

Veins bigger than 4mm require sclerotherapy. This treatment uses a tiny needle (smaller than a sewing needle) to inject a solution (scelerosant) that causes microscopic damage to the cells lining the vein. The vein gradually shrinks and disappears over a period of about eight weeks. At an initial consultation your veins will be assessed and you’ll be advised which form of treatment is most appropriate for you. Normally a test patch will be done at the same time.

Get rid of facial spider veins utilizing the most recent innovation and propelled treatment provided by the vein specialist at SHAMMA Clinic, Jumeirah. Contact us to know more.