Over time, as you’ve gradually and naturally aged, or perhaps have changed your employment, lifestyle, or self-care routines, you have likely noticed a spattering of tiny veins appearing on the surface of your legs and thighs and perhaps even on the soft tissue portions of your face. These typically harmless but often undesirable or unattractive veins are damaged veins through which blood can no longer easily traverse. Unable to pass through, that blood pools in certain places, causing the red, blue, or purple fine lines you now see weaving across your legs, thighs, or face. These are spider veins and they can be easily treated.
Spider veins are tiny varicose veins that appear on the surface of the skin as red, blue, or purple squiggly lines. These most commonly appear on the legs and face.
Varicose veins are large, twisting, swollen blood vessels raised above the surface of the skin, most often on the lower extremities. While spider veins are a form of very small varicose veins, they rarely develop into the larger and more prominent veins we refer to as “varicose.”
A variety of factors contribute to the presence of spider and varicose veins, including one’s weight, hereditary factors, and growth fluctuations. Spider veins appear when the walls and valves of the veins become weak and faulty, allowing blood to pool up inside. From the exterior of the skin, this pooled blood is what appears as red, blue, and purple lines.
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