Spider veins are small vessels sitting close to the surface, usually flat to the touch and appearing as fine red, blue or purple lines. On the legs, the standard treatment is sclerotherapy: a solution injected into the vessel that irritates its lining so it closes and fades over following weeks. On the face, vascular lasers are used more often. Most people need more than one session.
One thing to be aware of before treating leg veins cosmetically: spider veins on the legs are sometimes the visible surface sign of a larger circulation problem underneath. If you also have veins that bulge above the skin, or aching, heaviness, swelling or skin changes around the ankles, the varicose vein page is the more relevant one, because treating the surface without addressing what is underneath tends to disappoint.
How it gets treated
These are the approaches used locally. A provider may offer one of them or several, which is why the same name appears under more than one heading on this site.
- Sclerotherapy, a solution injected into the vessel
- Vascular lasers, more often used on facial vessels
What to ask a provider
- Are these purely cosmetic, or should the deeper veins be checked first?
- How many sessions, and what is the cost per session?
- What does the leg look like in the weeks afterward?
Who offers this near Boulder
56 of the providers in our directory treat this, detected from their own published service pages. Scores are our 0 to 100 rating of the business, not of this treatment specifically, and they are never for sale. How we score.
Related: Varicose Veins
This page is information, not medical advice. Annette Thompson is a medical technologist writing from public data and firsthand visits, not your clinician. Decisions about any of this belong in a conversation with a qualified clinician who knows your history.