Spider Veins
Definition
Telangiectasia is the medical term for spider veins and broken capillaries. They are small enlarged capillaries that lie in the dermis of the skin. Many times they form as linear, but sometimes they can also be dots of redness. The name spider vein is given for the spider like appearance, red center with little tentacles emerging from the middle. Broken capillaries, is an inaccurate term as the capillaries are not actually broken, if the capillary was broken it would bleed and cause a bruise. Instead these capillaries are permanently dilated.
Common Causes
These lesions are commonly found on the face, chest and legs, and rarely on other parts of the body. They often concentrate on the nose, cheeks and just below the eyes. The main causes are sun damage, injury, medication and aging. Common causes are pinching the skin when extracting blackheads or other impact injuries on the face or legs. Nearly all fair-skinned people are prone to these unattractive blood vessels, which gradually start appearing in their mid 30’s. Whatever the cause the condition most definitely affects white, thin-skinned people.
Spider veins occur more frequently in women than in men on the face as well as the legs. During pregnancy the increase of hormones and the increase pressure and volume may temporarily dilate capillaries. Therefore we recommend that you wait a few months after delivery before you begin treatment.
Medication such as oral contraceptives containing estrogen (female hormone) can elevate hormone levels and cause dilated capillaries. Long term use of Retin-A and chemical peels can also bring about the condition. Sometimes these lesions can form in scar tissue, such as when there is surgical removal of skin lesions like moles and carcinomas. Patients with high blood pressure often have dilated facial capillaries. The condition
can be temporarily improved but not cured, as dilated vessels will continue to form because of the high blood pressure.
Alcoholism, a diet of spicy food and extreme temperature changes are often sited for causing dilated capillaries, although it may cause temporary blushing, there is no proof to this theory that it causes permanent dilation.
Heredity seems to play the most significant role in the development of dilated capillaries in healthy people;
it can be seen as a family trait.
Treatment of Dilated Vessels
The treatment of dilated vessels attempts to block the flow of blood in the vessel. Blockage of the capillary is achieved by coagulating a small segment of the vessel. The blood is clotted at the treatment site, blocking the flow of blood. There are two ways the capillary heals and becomes functional again following treatment; either way the vessel is less visible. First, the damaged vessel and clot are permanently replaced by scar tissue; blood then flows through adjoining vessels. Second, a small channel, forms through the scar tissue, in this case the vessel is again functional, but smaller and less visible. Dilated capillaries of the superficial dermis are essentially dysfunctional. They carry blood, but are too large to nourish skin cells effectively. Therefore, removal of these vessels causes no risk to the health of the skin. When these are removed, new normal-size capillaries grow to efficiently feed the skin.
Capillaries vs Veins
Think of the coagulation treatment as constructing a barrier against the flow of blood in a vessel, much like a dam holds back a river; a river downstream from a dam dries up, as does the blood vessel. This process works well against capillaries but not veins, because of the difference in the direction of the blood flow.
Capillaries in the skin branch out from arterioles and become progressively thinner as the carry blood to the cells. A single clot form eliminates the downstream blood, eliminating that section of the vessel.
Veins however, join into progressively larger veins as the return blood to the heart. Blood pressure in the legs is greater than the face and increases as the patient stands up and walks. A single clot wouldn’t cause removal of connecting veins; therefore, the treatment would be ineffective. Numerous clot formations would be required to remove even a single vein therefore process would be lengthy. Spider veins on the legs are referred to physicians who specialize in the removal of varicose and spider veins on the legs. Standard treatments include sclerotherapy, surgery and laser treatments.
