Is it normal to go for sclerotherapy for "years?" How many sessions of this treatment are safe and how long should it take?

Sclerotherapy is often done in 3-5 sessions at a cost of $450/session if you can get through all the veins at each session. This is done as a series typically every 5 yrs in patients that have a tendency to bad veins that appear more frequent as we age. Wearing support hose does help cut the treatments down a lot.

Spider vein treatment is an issue that does require multiple treatments over a prolonged course of time, but not typically for years. We tell patients it is typical to require 3-5 sessions, each a month apart, to obtain reasonable results. This is highly variable however, depending on the number and extent of veins an individual has. Further, based on one's genetics, people will likely develop new spider veins in the future as they age, so that they may certainly require additional treatments down the road.

Sclerotherapy is a process and requires several treatments to achieve an end point (usually 3 to 5). Once the veins are under control then I recommend yearly follow up sclerotherapy sessions to keep the veins in check. Some may require 2 sessions per year.  If someone has many spider veins and they keep recurring, then it would be prudent to see a vein specialist for a full venous evaluation with a venous reflux ultrasound to look for an underlying reason for the recurrent veins.