In vascular skin lesions such as spider veins and broken capillaries, the laser energy targets hemoglobin (in red blood cells), which vaporizes the blood and instantly collapses and destroys the unwanted vein. Over the course of a few weeks, your body simply dissolves any remaining fragments of the destroyed veins resulting in beautiful vein-free skin.

Distinct facial spider veins and broken capillaries which are easy to target, are usually completely eliminated by only 1-2 treatments, leaving your skin with no evidence that you ever had any visible veins or capillaries. In a few cases, facial veins may turn slightly purple for a few days before they completely resolve (disappear). Though rare, in the case of a larger facial vein, a tiny indentation may appear where the vein collapses. With time, your skin will usually fill this indentation with beautiful new tissue.

Some more complex and multi-layered facial vascular conditions (such as rosacea, matted broken capillaries and leg veins) are also significantly improved with one spider vein treatment. However, the more complex broken capillaries and spider veins often require 2-4 follow up treatments in order to dramatically reduce or completely eliminate them.

With treatment leg veins often completely disappear after 2-4 sessions, but usually leave a residual “reddish shadow” that typically requires 8-12 weeks to completely resolve (disappear). In addition, a temporary “cat scratch” swelling may appear and persist for 2-3 days. In some cases, the “cat scratch” may become crusted and flake off. Much like the healing of any deeper scratch or cut, in the case of larger blue leg veins, some bruising may occur and occasionally, after a few days, scabs may appear at the surface. These scabs will simply crust off revealing beautiful new vein-free skin underneath. In the case of smaller spider veins and broken capillaries, the healing will be much less visible. All these conditions are normal inflammatory responses necessary for dissolving vein fragments and healing the tissue that surrounded the unwanted vein. Depending on the size and depth of the treated veins, as well as how responsive the patient’s skin is, the degree a patient experiences these conditions will vary from person to person. In all cases, experiencing these conditions is an indication of a successful spider vein treatment.