How to Understand Whether Vitamin K Creams Treat Spider Veins

Do those vitamin K creams that are so heavily advertised for spider vein treatment really work?

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Those ugly spider veins! They can make you feel self conscious is even the prettiest pair of shorts or bathing suit. While some people try to cover these visible veins with make-up, the results are often less than satisfactory. In desperation, some people turn to Vitamin K creams for spider vein treatment. These creams are widely sold on the internet as "cure" for unsightly leg spider veins. Do vitamin K creams really work or are you wasting your money?

2. Spider veins are groups of small, superficial blood vessels that are usually highly visible on the surface of the skin. They're most commonly found on the legs, but can also occur on the face. The risk of developing these veins increases as you get older, particularly if you're overweight, inactive, or have a job that requires standing for long periods of time. Leg spider veins are also more common during pregnancy due to the enlarged uterus putting additional pressure on the veins in the lower extremities. In some cases, there's a hereditary component to leg spider veins. If your mother has them, there's a higher chance that you'll experience them as you get older.

3. Although varicose veins, which are larger dilated veins, can cause symptoms such as a sense of heaviness in the legs and swelling in the ankles, spider veins are rarely uncomfortable. Most women seek treatment for spider veins for cosmetic reasons. When they do, they're often confronted with a slew of advertisements for vitamin K cream. Because vitamin K is a vitamin associated with the normal clotting of blood, the idea is propagated that using vitamin K causes leg spider veins to clot off and disappear. Although vitamin K does have an effect on blood clotting when given orally, the creams that are so commonly marketed for spider vein treatment can't penetrate the skin in sufficient concentrations to have any effect on the veins despite the many guarantees to the contrary.

4. In the absence of vitamin K, what treatment options do you have for leg spider veins? The two best treatments for spider veins are sclerotherapy or laser treatment. Sclerotherapy involves injecting the veins with a solution that causes the vein to collapse and disappear. For small spider veins, laser therapy can be an effective option. The high energy laser treatment causes the veins to shrink and gradually become invisible. Treatments usually take fifteen to twenty minutes and are needle free, although it may sting slightly during the procedure.

5. While these options for spider vein treatment are more expensive than that jar of vitamin K cream, the results are far better. The bottom line? Don't waste your money on vitamin K treatments that don't work.

[CaseyCarlton]

on 3/31/2009 Thanks for giving good information about the creams and treatments. Helped me decide to get the laser treatment. 5 stars and a recommend

[ReuseItAll]

on 3/30/2009 Thank you for an informative article on vitamin K treatments. I have an aunt who has had great success with sclerotherapy for many years. I appreciate your advice.