Overview

Thread veins and spider veins or ‘telangiectasias’ which is their medical term, are enlarged red or blue blood vessels in the skin’s surface. They are very common, vary in size and extent and usually affect the outer thigh and inner knee areas although they can arise anywhere including the face. They often look like bruising and cause adverse comment and thereby psychological distress to the sufferer.

Generally, they are an inherited condition, but can also follow deep bruising after trauma or surgery. Quite often they can look worse in pregnancy, but usually disappear afterwards. Thread veins can be associated with varicose veins and these would need to be dealt with first so as to avoid making the thread veins worse.

Sclerotherapy is a simple procedure performed by our skilled medical practitioners, which involves injecting a solution into the vein using a micro-needle, thereby causing the vein to collapse and fade from view. It is a virtually painless treatment which has been shown to be the most successful treatment available today for these tiny blood vessels.
 

Most patients are pleased with the difference that sclerotherapy makes, usually seeing an overall improvement of 80-90 % following treatment. It is important to realize however that this treatment does not prevent new veins from emerging in the future and as time passes by, it may be necessary for touch-up treatments when new leg veins surface.

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