Best Treatment for Blue Leg Veins?

The veins you are describing are called reticular veins, because they are run in the reticular dermis which is close to the surface of the skin. The veins are normal part of the skin but the can be very visible or prominent in people with fair skin or thin and or muscular individuals. People come in with request for treatment of these veins frequently.  Often just reassurance that they are normal is all that is necessary. However, for some people who are very bothered by their appearance, I will treat with sclerotherapy which is an effective treatment for them.  Sclerotherapy of these veins can take 2- 3 treatments and does has some risks. The risks of sclerotherapy are temporary bruising, [common] hyperpigmentation, [Brownish color where the vein\s were, usually goes away but can persist in ~ 1% ] and even in rare case ulceration. After all this is explained most people will chose not to have the sclerotherapy.  I hope this information is helpful. 

Thank you for your question! It is fairly common for blue veins to be prominent, but not varicose veins in your leg. The first step I would recommend taking is visiting a Vein Specialist for a free vein screening to determine if it is a medical or cosmetic issue. If you're certain they're not varicose or spider veins, unfortunately there's not much I would recommend you do with them. You certainly don't want to ablate or inject a healthy vein, without certainty of venous reflux disease. 

The color of a vein is less important than the caliber of the vein, anatomic location, and the source of the vein based on functional ultrasound studies and vein mapping. 

Blue leg veins, sometimes called reticular veins, are normal. Probably the best method to eliminate these is with sclerotherapy. These are too large for most lasers. However, some surgeons may prefer use of other technologies such as the endovenous laser.

The best treatment for blue leg veins is a sclerotherapy treatment. In  sclerotherapy veins are injected with a sclerosing solution which helps to close the veins. You have to wear compression stockings for 10 days post procedure to get best results. There are FDA approved sclerosing solutions which could be used. Procedure is very simple, done in the office and  takes about 30 minutes. There are no activity restrictions. Laser on the leg veins does not work as well as scleotherapy. 

Before thinking about how to treat the blue veins you see on the legs, you should be thinking about why are they there.No doctor or nurse, no matter how clever, can tell that by simply looking at your legs or looking at a picture.You need to have a venous duplex ultrasound scan performed by a specialist vascular technologist who does nothing but venous duplex ultrasound scans. This will tell you whether you have underlying venous reflux causing the veins.In the majority of patients with visible veins on the surface, there will be underlying venous reflux causing increased pressure making the surface veins more visible.Treatment then starts by treating the underlying veins first and seeing if the surface veins are still causing a problem. Sometimes they go as part of that treatment.If you have the underlying veins treated successfully, and the surface veins are still present, that is when you can decide how to treat them. Treatment such as foam sclerotherapy, micro-sclerotherapy and even phlebectomy can be successful depending on how big the veins are, how deep they are, where they are and how thick the wall is on ultrasound.At Whiteley clinics, we often treat the underlying veins first and then use a combination approach to give the optimal result-a process directed by the Whiteley protocol, and based on science.

Varicose Veins can not only be painful, but can be a cause of embarrassment for many.  Thick, blue, ropey veins are a sign of venous insufficiency.  But just because a vein is not thick and ropey, it does not mean an underlying issue is not present.  If you have issues with achy, tired legs, restless legs, and other lesser known symptoms, you still could have an issue with the veins not working properly.  Only a vein specialist can determine if your issue is something more than cosmetic.  Keep in mind, some people have thin skin and dark veins, even normally functioning ones, can be more visible.  And don’t worry if it’s a varicose vein issue – treatments today are so much more advanced than they were even just a few years ago.  Patients can walk out and resume most normal activities.  Contact a specialist to see if your issue is cosmetic or something more pressing.  

We regularly treat patients’ veins with sclerotherapy and state-of-the-art laser technology. We consult with each individual patient to come up with a customized treatment plan that works for him or her—and may involve both lasers and sclerotherapy (neither of which requires anesthesia). Both work by causing the vein to collapse, just with different methods:Laser treatment: Using either the V-Beam or Alexandrite lasers, a beam is targeted at the blood vessel. The heat from the laser coagulates the blood inside, causing it to collapse and seal up—all without damaging nearby skin, vessels, or tissue. Over several weeks, the vein will shrink and disappear. One to five sessions, spaced four weeks apart, is typically required. Sclerotherapy: A liquid solution (generally a salt or saline solution) injected directly into the vein. The solution causes the vessel to seal shut and blood flow is redirected to stronger, healthier veins.Typically 10 to 40 veins can be treated in one session—and sometimes the same vein needs to be treated more than once to get results. Follow-up sessions are required to treat additional veins.

Newer approaches like foam sclerotherapy allow physicians to treat larger areas and larger veins with fewer injections. This is particularly effective for these blue veins (also called reticular veins).

A thorough evaluation should be conducted for your blue veins in order to determine if there is a medical condition causing these blue veins to appear. During the evaluation you will be asked if you present with any symptoms such as: pain, heaviness, restless leg, itching. If you answer yes to any of these the specialist will order an ultrasound. If it turns out that you have no other issues besides the "blue veins"  then sclerotherapy can most likely get rid of them.