As skin conditions, spider veins and rosacea are quite similar. In fact, rosacea is a type of spider vein. They do have entirely different causes, however, with spider veins often being affected by lifestyle choices, whereas rosacea is determined by what genes you inherited.
At Vein Care, we provide minimally invasive, non-surgical treatments for both spider veins and rosacea in Melbourne. This allows you to quickly eliminate discoloured, unsightly vessels from your skin in a simple in-office procedure and restore your confidence. Below we take an in-depth look at the causes, symptoms and the different treatments available for rosacea and spider veins.
Understanding Spider Veins
Spider veins are when blood vessels are damaged to the point of breaking and becoming visible. Appearing as noticeable small veins forming a web or branch-like shape, they are actually not veins despite the name. Instead, they consist of broken capillaries, venules and arterioles. These are all types of smaller blood vessels that connect with larger blood vessels like veins.
While small, they can be quite noticeable as they are much closer to the surface of your skin compared to veins. Spider veins on legs and your face are most easily visible and common in these parts of the body. Coloured red, blue or purple, the spider web look gives this skin condition its name.
Risk Factors and Causes of Spider Veins
Spider veins are relatively common, with over 50% of women and individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB) experiencing them at some point during life. There are a range of risk factors and causes of spider veins, including:
- Older age (especially for those over 80)
- Genetic history of experiencing vein conditions
- Pregnancy
- Past vein damage and blood clots
- Menopause and other hormonal changes
- Sun damage and skin injuries
- Working in a job that require a lot of standing or sitting in one spot
- Higher body weight, which places pressure on your body’s circulatory system.
Some people find spider veins on their upper body in areas like along the ribcage. This can indicate a liver problem. Whether spider veins are a sign of more serious health concerns depends on where and how they appear along with what other symptoms accompany them.
Symptoms of Spider Veins
Most of the time, spider veins on legs and other areas of the body tend to be an aesthetic concern rather than a condition associated with pain or other symptoms. In addition to looking at their visual appearance, to diagnose spider veins, a professional will also look for symptoms such as:
- Cramping
- Itching
- Tired legs
- Burning
- Swelling
- Dull aching pain
- Changes in skin texture and colour
These symptoms are more common after sitting or standing for extensive periods. Since blood vessels in your body are all connected, symptoms of spider veins may also be related to other vein conditions such as varicose veins, deep vein thrombosis and chronic venous insufficiency.
Understanding Rosacea
Rosacea is a common skin condition that presents with the appearance of flushing or redness on your face. In some cases, you may also notice visibly enlarged vessels and small, pus-filled bumps. Rosacea is a condition that comes with permanent symptoms for some people while others experience flare ups that last anywhere between a week to several months before going away.
Due to its appearance, rosacea is often mistaken for acne, dermatitis or another skin condition. The condition is sometimes referred to as couperose skin. Couperose is simply the French word for rosacea and refers to the same symptoms.
Causes of Rosacea and Risk Factors
The exact causes of rosacea is uncertain, with some researchers suggesting that sufferers are sensitive to a microscopic creature called the Demodex folliculorum mite, which can inhabit pores in our skin. In terms of what triggers or worsens rosacea symptoms, some common factors include:
- Alcohol
- Coffee, tea and other hot drinks
- Spicy foods
- Exposure to a lot of sunlight
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Overheating, particularly at night while in bed.
Symptoms of Rosacea and Diagnosis
The symptoms of rosacea range from person to person and include:
- Enlarged capillaries
- Permanent flushing across the nose and cheeks
- Yellow-headed pimples that appear on the forehead, chin and cheeks
- Non-tender lumps under the skin
- Mild swelling on cheeks and nose
- Frequent blushing
- Burning or stinging sensations
- A rash that is confined to the facial area
Diagnosing rosacea requires a physical examination by a medical professional. They may also ask about your medical history and request a blood test to rule out other similar skin disorders like acne, seborrhoeic dermatitis, perioral dermatitis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Overlapping Symptoms and Differentiation
Patients with rosacea can often have spider veins as well, which can muddy the waters for the layperson trying to determine the type of skin condition. Another level of complication that arises is the fact that rosacea can be divided into four further types, each with its own set of symptoms. Many patients can also experience symptoms of more than one type of rosacea.
Erythematotelangiectatic Rosacea
If the rosacea symptoms are more persistent rather than coming and going with flare ups, this could indicate erythematotelangiectatic rosacea. Prompt treatment is important for this type of rosacea, to make sure the symptoms don’t spread or set in.
Papulopustular Rosacea
Papulopustular rosacea combines the red rash symptoms of rosacea with whiteheads, or blemishes filled with pus. The whiteheads are often misdiagnosed as acne, and can occur on the scalp, neck, or chest as well as on the face.
Phymatous Rosacea
Phymatous rosacea can cause the skin to thicken into scars. This type of rosacea is rare, usually affects the nose, and is more likely to occur in men than women.
Ocular Rosacea
This type of rosacea has symptoms that affect the eyes, making them look watery or bloodshot. Conversely, ocular rosacea can cause the eyes to dry out and become sensitive, so they may feel irritated or have a burning sensation.
Correct Diagnosis is Critical
Because their root causes – and treatments – are so different, it’s critical to correctly diagnose spider veins or rosacea to ensure your symptoms are properly and effectively addressed. At Vein Care clinic in Melbourne, our medical professionals will help you to adjust your exposure to risk factors to manage the symptoms, as well as offering state-of-the-art treatments where possible.
Prevention and Management
Lifestyle changes that can help prevent or reduce the severity of spider veins include:
- Consuming foods high in vitamin C, fibre, folic acid and flavonoids
- Keep an active lifestyle, aiming for 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day
- Avoid standing or sitting in one spot for too long
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Avoid wearing anything too tight around your waist or pelvis
- Raise legs higher than your hips when you are resting or sitting
- Avoid high heels
- Wear compression stockings
- Protect your skin from prolonged sun exposure
- Minimise alcohol intake and smoking
Rosacea is harder to manage through lifestyle factors alone. While managing triggers like alcohol consumption and stress can help, other times it does very little. While it’s difficult to prevent rosacea or spider veins from developing altogether if you are genetically inclined, these are generally great ways to improve your health and reduce your risk profile.
Spider Veins Treatment Options
Whether you’re looking to treat spider veins for cosmetic purposes or are concerned about underlying conditions, the team at Vein Care can offer advice and provide comprehensive treatments in Melbourne with minimal invasiveness, quick results and short recovery times.
- Sclerotherapy and microsclerotherapy are quick and simple methods of treating spider veins. The process involves injecting a special solution directly into the affected blood vessel, causing it to collapse and be absorbed by the body. Microsclerotherapy is similar to sclerotherapy but is specially designed for spider vein removal due to its ability to address small, superficial blood vessels.
- Ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy (UGS) – This uses the power of ultrasound guidance to increase accuracy when targeting smaller blood vessels. This is ideal when there are numerous branches or webs that require treatment and are harder to distinguish by sight.
- Endovenous laser therapy – A type of non-invasive laser treatment for spider veins that’s ideal for those looking to avoid any injection or surgical treatment. Instead, the process involves heating spider veins with a special laser that shrinks and destroys them, causing them to disappear within the day up to a few weeks depending on their size.
Sclerotherapy for spider veins is essentially painless and has minimal side effects. All of these treatments take as little as 30 minutes and you can return to your normal activities afterwards.
Rosacea Treatment Options
Unlike spider veins, rosacea treatment isn’t as straightforward. Depending on the case, the condition can be managed with topical creams, medicine, lifestyle changes or laser treatment. Common approaches include:
- Managing known triggers like hot drinks, sunlight and spicy foods
- Creams and gels such as metronidazole that you apply direct to the skin
- Diathermy, which is a small device that gently heats the affected area
- Laser treatment to address enlarged blood vessels
- Antibiotics such as doxycycline or minocycline.
Keep in mind that it’s unclear how well antibiotics reduce the severity of the rash. Antibiotics often take around three to four weeks to start working and around six weeks to completely clear rosacea. While largely successful, about a third of people who use antibiotics to treat rosacea can experience recurrence of symptoms within a few months.
Enquire About Rosacea and Spider Veins Treatment in Melbourne
Discover more about the available treatments for spider veins and rosacea at Vein Care in Melbourne. Make an appointment today by calling us on 1300 730 100 or contact us online.
