Transforming Facial Spider Veins: Modern Treatment Options Explained

The veins that run through your circulatory system play an essential role: they carry deoxygenated blood back to the heart. This part of the circulatory network has valves that prevent backward flow of blood. While many people think deoxygenated blood appears blue, veins only appear that color because of how light penetrates the skin.

The body has three types of veins: the deep veins in your muscles, superficial veins that lie just under the skin, and the perforating veins that connect the other types. You have other blood vessels under your skin as well (capillaries, venules, and arterioles), and when they get damaged, they can cause symptoms like spider veins, which aren’t veins at all.

These can appear in different parts of the body, but when they occur on your face, they can be unpleasant to look at, even if they’re generally harmless. To get help addressing spider veins on your face in the Lake Oswego, Oregon, area, the Lake Oswego Laser Aesthetics (LOLA) team at Lake Grove ENT offers solutions to remove them.

What causes spider veins on your face?

Also referred to as telangiectasias, spider veins result from the expansion and weakening of smaller blood vessels, and while the causes aren’t always well known, common factors include trauma or injury, connective tissue diseases, genetic disorders, and hormonal changes. 

There are also factors more common in facial spider veins, like age, sun damage, extreme heat, air pressure changes, environmental or chemical irritants, and alcohol consumption. Skin conditions like rosacea can cause spider veins during outbreaks, and they’re more likely to happen during pregnancy, though they often disappear afterward.

Can they be prevented?

To reduce your chances of developing facial spider veins, changes you can make at home include limiting your alcohol intake, getting regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding harsh chemicals in skin care products, and not overusing topical steroids. Sun damage often leads to facial spider veins, so sunscreen is essential when you’re outdoors.

How are they treated?

Several options can manage the effects of facial spider veins:

Retinoids

Vitamin A compounds that can reduce broken blood vessels under the skin and are often used to treat rosacea and acne.

Laser therapy

A variety of therapies using focused light on the skin can help reduce the appearance of spider veins and broken blood vessels. These include intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy, which penetrates the first layer of skin without damaging it, and KTP Laser Therapy that focuses a more coherent beam of light to minimize the appearance of or destroy spider veins.

If you’re tired of spider veins or other imperfections and want to get results, make an appointment with the LOLA team at Lake Grove ENT today to get started.