Feb 19, 2009 10:30 am US/Central
Doctor Defines Method Of Treating Spider Veins
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Spider veins are irregular in depth, thickness and flow, which can make it hard to keep the injected solution in the vein long enough to get it to close off. (File)
CBS
When it comes to developing spider veins, women outnumber men 20 to one, partly due to hormones but especially because childbirth turns invisible capillaries into little roadmaps on your legs. CBS station WCBS-TV tell you how to get rid of them.
"During the summer months I never would wear shorts or, you know, skirts or anything," said spider vein patient Denise Malave.
She used to hate the unsightly tangle of red and blue spider veins on her legs, but today the veins are virtually gone.
"We have been working on a methodology called laser assisted sclerotherapy, which marries sclerotherapy with laser," Dr. Luis Navarro of the Vein Treatment Center said.
In other words, the treatment combines the tried and true method of injecting a scarring solution into the veins, called sclerotherapy, with a laser that improves the results.
Spider veins are irregular in depth, thickness and flow, which can make it hard to keep the injected solution in the vein long enough to get it to close off.
The laser interrupts the veins at different spots, making the sclerotherapy more effective.
"Spider veins which will take three, four, five treatments, we can treat in one single treatment," Navarro said.
Monica Rivas is having her second treatment and she's already seen a significant improvement. "I had my first treatment and it really works. My ugly veins in here, they was like very dark, they disappeared and now they're almost gone," she said.
While it may still take several treatments, the results are dramatic. Even veins that are bigger than what most people call spider veins can be treated this way.
Navarro said, "60, 80 percent will disappear or improve a lot, and 20 percent will need to be retouched at the following visit."
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