Despite their appearance, most spider veins are harmless and treatment is cosmetic.   However, in the presence of symptoms, the most important reason to consider is venous insufficiency.  This occurs when veins become weakened and blood accumulates in the legs.  This results in increased pressure and typical symptoms including the development of spider veins.

At the Princeton Vascular Center, we have a dedicated insurance team that works with our vein doctors to prior-authorize medically necessary procedures.  Insurance coverage depends on the nature of symptoms, ultrasound findings, and response to conservative therapy.

Spider veins are treated by a large number of physicians.  This includes primary care doctors, nurse practitioners, plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and med spas.  In these instances, spider vein treatment is soley for cosmetic reasons and not covered by insurance.  Additionally, there is little thought put into understanding symptoms or severity of the spider veins.

A thorough evaluation is performed only by board-certified vein specialists focused on the treatment of spider and varicose veins.  You will most often find this at vein clinics.

Most dedicated vein clinics in NJ offer similar services for spider vein treatment. This includes sclerotherapy and laser vein removal. They additionally will offer a broader range of treatments to manage symptomatic spider and varicose vein disease.  A dedicated vein clinic in NJ will have on-site diagnostic ultrasound, RF vein ablation, VenaSeal, and Clarivein to help manage and cure underlying vein disease.

Before you elect a certain vein clinic, be sure to take a look at the qualifications of the vein doctor, online reviews, and facilities.  Top-tier vein centers will source only board-certified vascular specialists with years of experience.  The reviews should demonstrate an authentic and positive experience.

This can be variable depending on the number and severity of your condition.  In most instances, patients will notice between 50-70% improvement with a single session of sclerotherapy or laser vein treatment.  This improvement occurs over 4-6 weeks.  During an in-person consultation, our experts can advise on how many sessions are likely needed for your treatment goals.

The experience with sclerotherapy is overall very positive.  In the absence of a complete needle phobia, patients tolerate sclerotherapy injections quite well. Of course, this depends a little on the technique and sclerosant used.  Some cost-saving clinics will utilize hypertonic saline which can have unpleasant side effects including increased burning.  At the Princeton Vascular Center, we used formulated, low concentration polidocanol for its improved safety and efficacy in getting rid of spider veins.

Patients can go about their normal routine, however your vein doctor may advise a short course of compression stockings to improve the final results.  It’s important to note that sclerotherapy and laser treatment will cause the spider veins to inflamme for a short period. During this time, the spider veins may look angry or red, but this is normal for up to 2 weeks.   Please avoid direct sunlight for prolonged periods while the veins are healing.

There are better overall results with sclerotherapy because of the larger variety of veins that can be treated.  Sclerotherapy can also be injected into feeder veins that are otherwise missed by laser treatment and cause spider veins to return.