Looking Good, Feeling Great - Spider Veins

I'm 26 and have been suffering from spider veins for a few years now. I first noticed them when I was about 21 on my legs. (I wasn't overweight at the time). Since then, I have developed more, mostly on my thighs and around my knees. I don't have a bunch of them and they aren't too bad, but there are enought to bother me and prevent me from wearing shorter shorts without a tan.

I also have some on my face, but they are very tiny. There is one that is on the side of my nose...kind of under my right eye. I noticed that one about a year and a half ago and I kinda bothered me, but I decided I could just cover it up with make up easily enough. But, a couple days ago I noticed two more. One very very small one on my nose and another very very very small one under my left eye.

Now I'm getting worried. I don't want them to keep showing up on my face, so now I'm looking for causes and treatments. One of the causes for spider veins on the face is too much sun exposure, but the new ones have show up up without prolonged sun exposure, so I'm at a loss there. I do take birthcontrol though...since I was 21 (when I started to notice them), so that might contribute to them.


Anyway, the purpose of this long post is to ask of any of you have tried any creams or topical treatments for spider veins. I know that they can be treated with lasers and injections, but that isn't possible for me right now financially. So, creams look like the best option. But I want to know if they work first before I blow money.

So do you know of any creams or topical treatments that reduce the appearence of them or cure them all together? *crosses fingers*


Thanks in advance ladies!

I had a few spots, and didn't find any creams or topical treatments, but electolysis worked for the ones on my face, and I hear you can get laser treatments that will fix them as well. Best of luck!

I had a few spots, and didn't find any creams or topical treatments, but electolysis worked for the ones on my face, and I hear you can get laser treatments that will fix them as well. Best of luck!


How much does that usually cost?

I heard you can get laser treaments at some beauty places, but I don't know the average cost.

Well, I live in Canada and my treatments were about 10 years ago so I don't know that the price I paid for that would even be relevant now. It wasn't cheap at the time (I was getting electolysis on my bikini line and I think it ran around $50/hr or so) What I would suggest is google spider-vein and broken capillary treatments, find some clinics in your area and go from there. I know there's probably lots and it's possible the prices may have come down in the last few years since the technology has been around for awhile now. Good luck!

Thanks...


Anyone else have any ideas? Creams or topical treatments???

Hi Moonlight,

Are the lines you see on your face red or blue? The red ones are broken capillaries.

Unfortunately any sun damage you've accumulated will show up on your skin. So even if you haven't had a burn or always used sunscreen in the past year, anything that shows up on your skin now is from before. Most of the damage on our skin as we age is from sun exposure in the first 18 years of our lives. It stinks but it's true.

What you might try is a product for rosacea. Pevonia and Murad are two product lines that come to mind, but I bet there are a lot more. The products help decrease the redness in the skin that rosacea causes. I honestly don't know if it will work, but if you try it, get samples from whatever line you decide to go with because they're fairly expensive and you want to make sure they work before you spend the money. If it does work, it's only temporary.

If you have varicose veins on your face the only permanent solution is laser treatments. If you decide to go that way, be sure you know the laws in your state and go to somebody reputable. Personally, I would only go to a board certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon and get recommendations and read reviews. I know a lot of places offer laser treatments now, and some states don't require a lot of training, so you could get somebody right out of school using a laser that could damage your skin permanently, which would be a lot worse than a few broken capillaries.


I also have broken capillaries on my face (and spider veins on my legs) and I'm currently in the process of looking for a doctor to treat these things. I'm also an esthetician and worked for a dermatologist for a while and learned a lot about skin.

Good luck!

Darby...the lines on my face are red. (The ones on my legs are more blue-ish) They are very small and hardly noticeable when makeup is applied, but they bother me because I know they are there and I'm afraid they will get bigger or I will develop more.

I suppose I will try some creams and see if that works. If not, then I guess I will look in to laser treatment in the future.

Anyone else?

I have seen some advertisements for topical Vitamin K creams that are claimed to help with fading spider veins. Expense wasn't huge ($15/jar). I've seen the ads in Footsmart catalog, and also in HomeTrends. There are some websites out there with user reviews that might be helpful in figuring out what works and what doesn't.

Vein wall support supplements (reputed to assist in better "suppleness" of the inner walls) include horse chestnut and rutin powder. You can do research on those at lef.org - that's a great place to read cutting-edge info on latest trials. They're a non-profit - so less vulnerable to promoting stuff that won't work.

Good luck! Would love to hear about any successes you have with finding help - I've got the same issues. :)

I used the vitamin k cream from Foot Smart called Dermal K cream.
I used it religiously and the whole jar. I did NOT notice any difference--sorry :(

Aw crud! But thanks for letting us know, ddc! Just on a whim the other day, I tried my BareEscentuals foundation powder on my most aggravating one, and it did stay on all day, under jeans, during a busy day at work. Maybe disguise will work?

For the spider veins on your leg...I read somewhere that there is nothing topical that will work. The spider veins are caused by pooled blood in the vein. The only way to get rid of it is through laser treatment or by a doctor injecting you with a fluid that makes the vein close.

Just by definition of what a spider vein does, I doubt there are creams out there that can "cure it." You may want to talk to your doctor because sometimes the treatment can be covered by your insurance.

Good luck!

Creams don't work, my Mother has many of these (and I'm catching up to her) and she's tried everything. Next step for her is to go the doctor and get these little injections that clear them up.

If you don't take care of them they will get worse and worse as you can already see. They do tend to get very painful over the years, especially if you expose them to the sun. I wouldn't delay in going to your doctor and finding out if your insurance will cover it.

The injections are called sclerotherapy. It's saline solution injected into the veins. I think a lot of doctors now do a combination of sclerotherapy and laser.

My sister had it done a few years ago and had to wear some type of compression hosiery for a week or two afterwards. She had it done in the summer and it was so hot wearing those things.

That's something to keep in mind if you decide to go that route.

Thanks everyone

I've had sclerotherapy a few times. It works well and is not really painful. It runs about 200 a session here and I usually need a touch up once a year or so. If your job has flex spending, that is covered under flex spending so that's an option. Someone said topical doesn't work and they're totally right; it's a circulation issue unfortunately. Good luck, I know spider veins are no fun.