Let us talk leg veins. The bad news is that there is no magical fix for this common issue. The good news is that there are highly effective safe and accessible treatments available in London.

Your two main options are laser or microsclerotherapy.

It is widely accepted that Microsclerotherapy is the industry gold standard for this problem.

What is Microsclerotherapy?

Microsclerotherapy involves a series of very superficial injections into the veins. This makes the veins stick together and eventually disappear.

Why do I have thread veins?

Thread veins are simply an annoying anomaly. They develop with age and have absolutely no purpose or function. Another annoying issue that affects mainly women.

The blood vessels in our legs have in built valves to stop the blood from draining backwards when being pumped towards the heart. Age makes those valves less effective and this allows pooling of blood in the lower limbs which triggers the development of tiny blood vessels.

As with many skin related problems, we do not know the exact cause but we know factors that can trigger or exacerbate them.

• Hereditary – these often run in the family
• Hormones – pregnancy can make them worse
• Obesity
• Standing / sitting still for long periods – often an occupational issue
• Leg injury
• Age

Thread veins can occur in a mild or more severe presentation, additionally the way we perceive them and how much it bothers us may bear no relation to that severity spectrum.

Thread veins look as they sound, thin thread like sometimes blue sometimes red sometimes purple, usually not ‘feelable’

Varicose veins by contrast are larger vessels that protrude through the skin. Blue looking, baggy, boggy to the touch. These can also be treated but require much more aggressive treatment which should only be carried out by a vascular surgeon (LPA usually recommends Mr Philip Coleridge Smith for this procedure).

If you do have varicose veins, you must get these treated prior to treating thread veins. The reason for this is that varicose veins will ‘feed’ into thread veins, therefore making the treatment unsuccessful.

Summer Legs

Like every other body part – summer legs ARE made in the winter!

Leg vein treatment whilst highly effective, does have some downtime and typically it can take around four treatments on average to achieve the results you are after.

Added to this, you do need to commit to wearing tight ‘hosiery’ (stockings or tights) for two weeks following each treatment.

It is for these reasons that here at LPA we always recommend Microsclerotherapy as an ideal WINTER TREATMENT.

The treatment itself would firstly require a thorough medical consultation including assessment of the legs to ensure that there are no varicose veins or any other reasons you may not benefit from the process. A series of very superficial injections then follow. The treatment is not timed but based on a maximum amount of solution that may safely be administered in one sitting. For some this may be enough to treat the entirety of both legs, for others it may only address half a leg.

Once complete, you are helped into your new hosiery which you are required to wear day and night for the first two days and a total of two weeks. 

It is very normal for the legs to look worse immediately after treatment due to bruising.

It may take as long as six weeks before you start to notice a visible improvement.

Each treatment is spaced four weeks apart.

How to get the best out of treatment

Once treatment is completed, there are some ‘do’s & don’ts’ for you to implement (with exception of avoiding exercise) these are really helpful tips to implement before, in between treatments and ongoing to help reduce development of new veins.

• Avoid high impact exercise
• Avoid extreme heat (hot baths / showers / saunas / steam rooms
• Avoid crossing legs or feet when sitting
• Elevate feet onto a foot stool when seated
• When sitting or standing for long periods, try to keep legs and feet active, wriggle the toes, circle the ankles, point the toes like a ballerina and then flex the foot back towards the face.
• Continue with wearing firmer hosiery such as the support tights and stockings now widely available within standard hosiery ranges. 

You can book for a Microsclerotherapy consultation here at LPA by calling us on 020 4530 8487 or sending an email to [email protected].

We are based in Central London, closest underground stations are Old Street & Barbican.