Spider veins — medically called telangiectasia — refer to a dense cluster of blood vessels visible on the surface of the skin. They look like spider webs or like the branches of trees, which is why they’re known as “spider veins”.
In some cases, spider veins are harmless and they only lead to social anxiety and self-consciousness because they look ugly. However, while spider veins aren’t dangerous in and of themselves, they can be symptomatic of a dangerous circulatory disorder.
Chronic venous insufficiency is often the root cause of spider veins. In this article, we discuss what we mean by “venous insufficiency causes spider veins”, how to improve blood flow, and what is chronic venous insufficiency CVI.
The human body consists of two types of blood vessels. Arteries carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Veins carry blood from the rest of the body to the heart.
The veins include valves that function like one-way doors to allow blood to pass through but prevent it from flowing back down due to gravity. Sometimes, these vein valves collapse, which causes blood to pool in the leg veins. Over time, the accumulated blood pushes against the vein walls and leads to vein dilation, which results in the formation of spider veins and varicose veins.
This is an extremely dangerous circulatory disorder known as chronic venous insufficiency CVI.
Chronic venous insufficiency CVI is an extremely under-diagnosed disease because its initial signs and symptoms are benign and resemble signs of aging.
The following are the initial signs of chronic venous insufficiency:
These signs and symptoms are generally worse at the end of the day or after long periods of sitting or standing still. This is because the symptoms worsen as more blood accumulates in your leg veins, which happens when you’ve been standing or sitting for long periods.
The initial signs of chronic venous insufficiency may be benign, but the disease gets worse over time and leads to serious complications.
The following are some of the biggest complications of venous insufficiency.
Your medical history is one of the major risk factors of chronic venous insufficiency. If you’ve had spider veins or deep vein thrombosis in the past, you’re at a high risk of suffering from chronic venous insufficiency CVI as well.
The following are some of the other risk factors of chronic venous insufficiency:
When you go to a vein doctor, they’ll diagnose chronic venous insufficiency using a method called Duplex Ultrasound Scan. This is an imaging test with which the vein doctor can visualize the blood flow in your veins, which helps them determine if you’re suffering from chronic venous insufficiency CVI.
You can improve blood flow and reduce the risk of vein disease in the following ways:
The best minimally invasive treatments for chronic venous insufficiency are radiofrequency ablation, endovenous laser ablation, and VenaSeal. During these procedures, the vein doctor uses heat energy, laser energy, or vein glue to collapse or seal the affected saphenous vein, thereby restoring blood circulation to the heart. After the procedure is done, the vein doctor may use sclerotherapy to treat spider veins.
These procedures are minimally-invasive, non-surgical, and painless with a negligible risk of side effects. They can also be conducted in-office because they conclude within an hour with no downtime.
VIP Medical Group is a collective of some of the best vein clinics and vein doctors in the country. We have highly-qualified vein doctors who use the latest state-of-the-art technology to diagnose the root cause of your spider veins and treat vein disease effectively. For more information, please schedule your vein treatment today.