Now That Winter is Here, It’s the Perfect Time to Treat Your Thread Veins

23 October 2019

Are you a summer or winter person? While many are lamenting the bright sunny summer days, here at Renew Skin Clinic we’re delighted to see the crisp winter days make a return.

While you may have had to pack away your summer clothes and the garden furniture, you can swap them for toasty pyjamas, hot drinks and cosy nights in front of the fire. And there’s another great thing about wintertime – tights! Oh, yes, tights allow us to wear our favourite dresses without freezing, and they also cover a multitude.

When you come to dig out your sundresses for your next holiday or for summer 2020, you want to be able to reach for them with joy. Unfortunately, many of us hate the thoughts of baring our legs during the summertime. Veins that are particularly noticeable, varicose or thread veins can make many of us feel uncomfortable. However, with a little strategic thinking and some help from Renew Skin Clinic, by the time you want to ditch your tights at the end of winter, you could have those veins under control.

Winter is the ideal time to avail of sclerotherapy, a non-surgical procedure that is effective at treating thread veins in the legs.

Thread veins, or spider veins as they are sometimes unflatteringly called, are caused as we age and the valve in the veins become weakened. The blood begins to pool in the vein and shows up as a network of tiny red, blue or purple lines. Thread veins are similar to varicose veins, but, they don’t usually hurt and unlike varicose veins can be successfully treated non-surgically.

Unfortunately, women are more prone to thread veins than men, but there is also a genetic factor at play. Pregnancies can make us more susceptible to thread veins, as can work where we’re on our feet much of the day.

It is possible to treat thread veins with laser treatment, however, sclerotherapy has shown much better results on the legs, while laser therapy is more appropriate for the facial area.

We offer sclerotherapy to our clients who want to rid themselves of their thread veins in all five of our Renew Skin Clinics. The treatment is carried out by fully qualified nurses who all have extensive experience. The first step in sclerotherapy is a consultation with your nurse.

At your consultation, your nurse will perform an examination, get some medical history from you and discuss your desired results. We will also make sure that sclerotherapy is the right treatment for you at this time.

When clients present with varicose veins, we recommend that you see a vascular surgeon who can treat your varicose veins first and when you have done so, we can schedule your sclerotherapy treatment for a time when you have gotten over the surgery.

When the treatment is carried out, you shouldn't apply any lotions to the skin for 24 hours in advance. We also ask people to wear loose clothing, this is to accommodate the support stockings you will need to wear post-treatment.

The sclerotherapy treatment itself will take no longer than an hour. During the treatment, your nurse will use a very fine needle to inject a sclerosant into the vein in question. A sclerosant is a solution that irritates the vein, causing it to bulge and then collapse in on itself which prevents future blood flow.

Unfortunately, for the first two to three days after your treatment there can be some bruising, but this will go away within a week. You can expect to see good results after about three weeks, but the full results can take a little longer.

This treatment does demand some aftercare, including the application of support through support tights, at first around the clock and then at night, for a week. You will need to avoid extremes of heat and take it easy on the exercise. Flying is not advised in the weeks after sclerotherapy treatment. For these reasons, it’s a good idea to plan your sclerotherapy treatment at a time when you can cover up your legs for a while and aren’t planning on travelling too far.

Even though there is some aftercare involved, you can get up and about after treatment. Sclerotherapy has a great track record, is a very safe and minimally painful treatment that can help you feel more confident about your legs.

If you are interested in finding out more about sclerotherapy and seeing if it is the right treatment for you this winter, simply give us a call at your local Renew Skin Clinic or book an appointment online.