Do unsightly veins on your hands make them look older than they should? The good news is hand sclerotherapy can help.
Here at North Shore Vein Center in New Hyde Park, New York, Dr. Mark Schwartz and our highly trained staff offer state-of-the-art care and a wide range of minimally-invasive procedures to meet all of your vein-related needs — including those bulging hand veins.
Hand vein causes
Fortunately, hand veins are only a cosmetic issue for most people and not a sign of a more serious medical problem. Genetics may play a role, as does the amount of body fat you have; less fat in the hands make the veins appear more prominent.
Aging can also contribute to hand veins. The skin thins and becomes less elastic as we get older, which can make veins more visible. The valves in the veins also grow weaker, which can result in blood pooling and enlarging them.
Particular situations like hot weather can challenge the valves and make veins bulge. Exercise can raise your blood pressure and force the veins closer to the skin’s surface. Usually this is temporary until the blood pressure returns to normal; but people who exercise frequently, especially with strength training routines, or who lift heavy items repeatedly for work may have increased blood flow and hand muscle hardening that result in more prominent veins.
Veins can also swell from a medical issue such as hand trauma, infection, or an autoimmune disease. Superficial thrombophlebitis and deep vein thrombosis can also result in bulging hand veins.
Hand sclerotherapy
One easy way to get rid of your unsightly hand veins is sclerotherapy. During this treatment, we inject just a few drops of a special solution directly into your problem veins. We use an ultraslim needle to ensure the procedure is virtually painless even without a local anesthetic. After injection, the solution causes irritation to the walls of the vein and results in them collapsing. The blood is re-routed to other veins and the treated vein fades. Results are apparent almost immediately.
Treatment details
Like its sister procedure leg vein sclerotherapy, hand sclerotherapy is safe, reliable, and very low risk. Treatment typically consists of two sessions due to the hands’ delicate nature, with each addressing half of the back of each hand. Appointments take only 30 minutes and are usually made two to four weeks apart.
Since it is such a simple procedure, there is no downtime required for recovery, and you are able to return to your regular daily routine. The only instruction will be to wear special compression gloves for two weeks post-treatment.
If you’re tired of seeing bulging, protruding veins every time you look at your hands, call our office at 516-231-1934 to find out if hand sclerotherapy is right for you.