If you suffer with facial veins you are all too familiar with the trouble you have finding ways to cover them up, and it is especially difficult for men who often don’t have the luxury of concealer, it is good to know that there is a solution! There are different treatments types available now for facial veins, this treatment will depend largely on the type of vein. It is a very popular treatment amongst our patients, many of whom cannot believe that they can be rid of these veins in as few as three treatments. Today we will explore the different types of treatments.

IPL for Facial Veins

IPL or Intense Pulsed Light diffuses light into the tissue of the skin, the light heats up the tissue and the vein then disappears. The light does not damage the healthy skin surrounding the vein or vascular lesion. This type of laser is very good at treating superficial veins and you can chose to either treat a single vein here and there, or a cluster of veins or the whole face in one treatment. IPL is quick and is often described as a ‘quick pinch’ or a ‘flick of an elastic band’ It takes just thirty minutes to treat the entire face , and it is quite tolerable. You will also have cool air and gel to help with any discomfort. The IPL used here is the Lumenis M 22.

After your treatment you may be bruised, this is not always avoidable though not everyone who is treated bruises. If you do bruise then they should subside within 5-7 days. There is also a risk of some swelling of the treated area and some redness can also be expected, which will subside within a day or two. We will give you a cool pack to take home and we will give you a fan to cool down after the treatment.

You should see an improvement after your first treatment, but it takes between 1-4 treatments depending on the amount of veins that you have. We will give you an indication of how many treatments and cost of treatment during your consultation. You will need to have a patch test prior to your treatment to ensure you are a suitable candidate for IPL.

ND-Yag for Facial Veins

Of course there is always an exception, from time to time there are veins that just don’t respond well to IPL they may be stubborn or they may be deep and dark in colour, in which case we do have another option to treat these veins, and we will also use this option if we are treating veins on a dark skinned patient. The ND-Yag laser or to give it its full name neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet is used. The reason this laser is used in dark skinned patients is due to the depth the laser penetrates into the skin, it penetrates deeper and therefore bypasses the melanin in the skin that the other types of lasers are attracted to. The ND-Yag laser used here at Cosmetic Doctor is the Cyonsure Elite which is the gold standard of laser.

Using a small device we treat the individual vein with a laser, the laser is attracted to the colour in the veins, and it heats it up and the vein is eliminated. This treatment usually requires between 1-3 treatments, and it feels very similar to IPL, you will also feel cool air but we do not use a gel on the skin. This treatment is also very fast and also requires a patch test. As with the IPL consultation we will go through the amount of sessions you need and the cost involved. The after effects are quite similar to IPL so there is a chance that you will bruise or have mild swelling with the ND-Yag also, again it will take between 5-7 days to subside. You may also have redness and flushing of the skin after treatment.

We recommend you avoid hot showers, saunas and exercise for a day or two after your treatment and we also recommend that you avoid spicy food.

Whether you have a single vein or you feel you have numerous veins, there is an option for you to be free from them, book now for your initial consultation and patch test and discover the best treatment option for you! Call 01 685 3100 today!