Do spider veins come back after laser treatment? Top FAQs about spider vein treatment in NYC

Most people assume that spider veins are purely cosmetic concerns, but that’s untrue. Spider veins don’t cause any pain or medical problems themselves, but they’re often indicative of underlying chronic venous insufficiency. Venous insufficiency is a circulatory disorder wherein the collapse of vein valves leads to the accumulation of blood in leg veins, eventually leading to vascular dilation and the formation of spider veins and varicose veins.

While spider veins aren’t dangerous, the underlying vein disease is an extremely dangerous condition. If left untreated, chronic venous insufficiency eventually leads to varicose veins, profuse bleeding, leg ulcers, skin discoloration, leg swelling, deep vein thrombosis, and more. That’s why patients with spider veins must seek a thorough evaluation for chronic venous insufficiency. Until the underlying vein disease has been treated, your spider veins will continue returning.

Laser therapy is one of the most popular yet ineffective treatments for spider veins. The popularity of laser therapy can be attributed to the fact that it’s commonly offered by medical spas because it doesn’t have to be performed by vein doctors and experts — even technicians can offer laser therapy. During the procedure, the laser light energy is channeled onto the spider veins — the light energy gradually makes the spider veins shrink and fade away from the skin.

Laser therapy is a purely cosmetic procedure. You need multiple laser therapy sessions to see mild results, and there’s a high rate of spider vein recurrence. That’s because laser therapy doesn’t address the root cause of spider veins — chronic venous insufficiency. Even after the spider veins disappear, blood will continue accumulating in the leg veins because of vein disease, leading to new spider veins. That’s why patients seeking spider vein treatments from medical spas have a high rate of recurrence.

Sclerotherapy is widely considered the best spider vein treatment because it provides guaranteed results. The vein doctor injects a sclerosant medicine into the spider veins to fuse their walls shut. The sclerosant medicine irritates the spider veins’ walls, turning them into hardened scar tissues eventually metabolized by the body. The spider veins will initially darken, but they’ll soon fade away from your skin within three weeks. The results are guaranteed and dramatic, unlike laser therapy.

However, sclerotherapy also doesn’t address the root cause of spider veins. You should ideally consult vein doctors in New York specializing in comprehensive vein care. The best vein doctors diagnose the root cause of spider veins, i.e., chronic venous insufficiency, and perform comprehensive minimally invasive vein treatments. The vein doctor may use radiofrequency ablation or endovenous laser ablation to destroy the diseased vein responsible for your vein problems and then perform sclerotherapy.

If your spider veins are caused by underlying chronic venous insufficiency, the vein doctor must address the root cause (vein disease) before removing spider veins. Otherwise, it will be like painting over a stained wall instead of fixing the leaky pipes underneath — the spider veins will keep returning, again and again.