The Candela GentleLASE Laser can significantly diminish the unsightly appearance of small blue spider veins. The laser provides a safe and effective non-surgical treatment option for the removal of spider and some varicose veins. Most laser therapy patients report little discomfort. The majority of vessels will be gone with one or two treatments.

The GentleLASE Laser delivers short pulses of laser light through the cool hand piece to protect the outer layer of skin. This allows treatment to be performed almost anywhere on the body, including the nose, cheeks, chin, and legs for men or women.

The vein must be no bigger than the width of a paper clip. If the vein is larger than this, you will require treatment by a more invasive technique such as sclerotherapy. Therefore small veins do best. Due to the high energy levels required to coagulate the blood in the vessel, if you have dark skin you will have blistered, scarred skin. (In effect, no better than a blue vein!) You must be fair-skinned, a level 1-2 on the Fitzpatrick Skin Scale (Levels 1-6). The depth of penetration of the GentleLASE is limited to vessels about 1.5mm in depth. Therefore, vessels deeper than this may not respond to the therapy.

Most veins require about 2-3 treatments. When a full treatment is performed, waiting at least two months before the next treatment is best as healing continues throughout this entire period. Longer waiting in-between treatments is also recommended to possibly reduce the total number of treatments needed for clearance.

For facial veins, one treatment may be sufficient for clearance but a second visit is recommended for the best results. These treatments occur on an average of every six to twelve weeks. Each individual situation may vary and it is best to discuss yours with the physician.

The duration of your laser treatment depends on the size of the area you wish to have treated or the time allotted by our physician performing your treatment. Recovery time is anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months for completely recovered veins.