Many men and women come to the Love U salon complaining of unsightly spider veins. Spider veins are veins that have widened over time and become closer to the surface of the skin. They usually take on the appearance of branches of a tree or spider webs—hence the name and are most commonly found on legs and the face.
There are a lot of reasons why people develop spider veins; putting on weight, a sedentary lifestyle, age, hormone imbalances and pregnancy can all lead to spider veins developing. And while completely harmless and painless, many men and women feel self-conscience about them and wish they didn’t have them.
Thankfully, there is now a non-evasive procedure that helps to get rid of spider veins. IPL, or Intense Pulsed Light treatment uses a hand held device which emits pulses of extremely white light. This white light is then absorbed by the blood vessels under the skin and helps to shrink and destroy the swollen vessels, dramatically improving the appearance of the skin.
Does IPL hurt? No, most people say that there is a slight pricking sensation or the feeling of someone snapping a rubber band against your skin, but most find it completely tolerable for the session. The area will feel fairly warm after treatment, but this will alleviate after a couple of hours.
Each session should take around 15 to 45 minutes depending on the how large the area to be treated is.
For the best results, particularly for very dark or large spider veins, we advise a course of 6 treatments, with the time between each treatment being around 3 weeks.
Each IPL treatment takes around two weeks to take effect as the veins change from a dark blue colour to light red and then fade away.
It is important that whilst having IPL treatment for spider veins, that you do not suntan – either naturally or artificially, as the changes in pigmentation to the skin will have an effect on how well the IPL works. You will also be more susceptible to sunburn if you sunbathe for a few days after IPL treatment.
The paler your skin is naturally, the better this treatment will work. IPL for spider veins is not advisable for men and women with very dark to black skin.
Pregnant and breast feeding women should avoid IPL treatments, as should those on blood thinning medications.
