Veinwave Treatment for Thread Veins & Spider Vessels

Veinwave uses a high frequency electrical impulse to thermo-coagulate spider vessels and to treat thread veins.

It works best for small capillary vessels and is an alternative to injection microsclerotherapy. Veinwave can safely be used at any location on the body (although we would usually prefer to use an Iridex Diode Laser for facial vessels). We can typically treat about 30-50cm of spider veins in one session and recommend between 3-8 sessions depending on the extent of the spider capillaries. Several treatmetns will be required to achieve effective results. 

What does treatment involve?

During your consultation, the practitioner will first assess your veins to determine if Veinwave is going to be a suitable treatment for you. Then if you would like to go ahead with your treatment the practitioner will insert an ultra-fine single-use needle into the needle holder and will begin to insert the needle into the skin around the veins. A small electrical impulse is then delivered and the veins around the probe will heat up and collapse through a process called thermo-coagulation.

 

Is it painful?

The sensation is often reported as being similar to a warm pin prick and most patients undergoing Veinwave treatment will not require any topical anaesthetic to numb the area beforehand.

Are there any side-effects?

Side-effects can include discomfort due to the treatment, crusting of the skin surface (that may take several days to settle), brown pigmentation due to inflammation of skin (may last several weeks), allergy to the needles (please advise if you have Nickel allergy) and rarely scar formation (risk <1%). 

Most patients will typically encounter very small micro-crusts - like the marks from a cat scratch - in the areas where the Veinwave has been applied. This is normal and the marks will typically disappear on their own. 

How effective is the treatment?

Some patients may find that repeat treatments are necessary. This is because the Veinwave treatment is not always able to remove all of the spider veins in the area due to their depth and complexity. However, we generally prefer to use the Diode laser for treating facial thread veins and a combination of microsclerotherapy and laser therapy for treating leg veins since they provide more consistent results and require fewer treatments.

 

Who provides Veinwave Treatment at the clinic?

Our aesthetic practitioners, Sarah Williams and Deborah Peebles, are highly experienced and can provide this service for you. You can find out more about them on our clinical team page.