How Can I Get Rid of the Spider Veins on My Face?

Q: How can I get rid of the spider veins on my face?

A: When the teeny-tiny blood vessels on the surface of the skin are prominent, they’re called telangiectasias.

The most common cause of telangiectasias is photoaging, aka aging related to sun exposure. Telangiectasias are also common among people with rosacea, liver disease, or connective tissue diseases like scleroderma, dermatomyositis and lupus. Chronic corticosteroid use and pregnancy can also promote their development.

Unfortunately, you can’t get rid of them at home. Your best bet to get rid of those telangiectasias — and the only real way — is by paying a visit to your dermatologist’s office. Make sure your dermatologist is taking patients due to COVID-19 and if so, practice social distancing and wear a mask to and from the appointment.

We treat telangiectasias with a vascular laser that specifically targets these vessels, heats them up and causes them to collapse. This doesn’t mean we’ve gotten rid of them, though. We’ve merely closed the blood vessels down and they can reopen.

We’re not talking about a one-time treatment, either. Telangiectasias would require laser therapy for three to four sessions every three to four months. After that, you would need a touch-up treatment every six months to one year as needed.

—Dermatologist Christine Poblete-Lopez, MD