Clearing the Web of Spider Veins

We enjoy warm temps and abundant sunshine year round here in Florida, so we often bare our skin. And when we wear shorts and skirts, our common blemishes, like spider veins, are on full display. If you’re covering up your legs because of these pesky veins, we offer innovative laser technology that can make quick work of the cosmetic problem.

At Z-Roc Dermatology, Dr. Matthew Zarraga, Dr. Khongruk Wongkittiroch, and the rest of the team have you covered from head to toe, and there’s no better example of this than our leg vein treatments.

Let’s look at how spider veins develop and what we can do to get rid of them so that you can confidently bear your legs.

How did they get there?

The first thing to understand about spider veins, which are medically known as telangiectasias, is that they aren't medically relevant and typically only pose a cosmetic concern.

While spider veins can affect both men and women, they are twice as common in women, likely due to hormonal fluctuations in women that weaken blood vessels.

In most cases, spider veins form because of faulty valves in the veins in your legs, which don’t close all the way. When this happens, blood can spill backward and engorge superficial veins in your legs, pushing them toward the surface of your skin. As a result of this venous insufficiency, you can develop spider and varicose veins.

Spider veins tend to become more common as you get older, which makes sense as the valves in the veins can naturally weaken over time. 

No matter your age or your gender, if you have spider veins, the good news is that we can help.

The power of light

To get rid of spider veins on your legs (or wherever else they may form), we turn to our Icon® intense-pulsed light (IPL) technology. This system delivers powerful bursts of light in different wavelengths that break apart surface concerns like spider veins.

Rest assured, these treatments won’t affect the blood flow in your legs — 90% of the circulation in your legs is handled by deep veins, leaving only 10% to superficial veins in your legs. When we target an active vein, blood quickly reroutes to a healthier vessel.

After we deliver the IPL energy, the spider vein breaks apart, and it’s reabsorbed by your body, leaving a clear, blemish-free surface behind.

For average spider veins, you’ll only need one Icon IPL treatment. If you have a number of spider veins, or they’re larger than normal, you might need two or more treatments.

There’s no downtime after your IPL treatments, and you shouldn’t experience any side effects other than some mild redness in the treatment area.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can quickly and easily clear away your spider veins with our IPL technology, please contact our Fort Lauderdale, Florida office to schedule an appointment.