Portsmouth, NH -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/20/2011 -- The snow will melt. Spring and summer will be here. Winter is the ideal time to correct small and medium size veins if your goal is to reveal legs free of unsightly veins when the weather turns warmer. Correcting legs veins sooner, also helps to avoid troubling veins from becoming potentially worse. Two options for the correction of spider and small varicose veins are laser therapy or sclerotherapy.

Sclerotherapy is a popular and simple method for eliminating varicose veins and superficial spider veins. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, over 572,863 vein treatments were done across USA last year. A solution, called a “sclerosing agent” is injected into the veins for the treatment of uncomplicated spider veins. Sclerotherapy is best suited for medium to large spider veins because it is administered by fitting a tiny needle into a tiny vein causing them to contract and collapse. A session usually lasts 15 to 45 minutes.

One to six treatments may be needed, at two month intervals, to achieve your desired results. The number of sclerovein treatments differs from patient to patient, depending on the extent of varicose and spider veins. For 2 to 3 days, following treatment, the patient is advised to avoid heavy exercise, sunbathing, long plane flights and hot baths or saunas. Spider vein treatments tend to look worse over the first 3 to six weeks and then start improving, fading slowly. Your final results may take 2 to 3 months. You can anticipate a 50% improvement in spider veins following each sclerotherapy session. The vast majority of patients are very satisfied with their treatment, and the significant improvement they have achieved on unsightly veins. Some common side effects are Itching, transient hyper-pigmentation, or bruising. Most patients say the injections do not hurt at all. Patients do not need to take time off from work.

The price to correct varicose and spider veins at Atlantic Plastic Surgery Center is surprisingly competitive. We charge $75 per cc with no test dose needed. Sclerotherapy is usually not covered by insurance, so patients are pleasantly surprised with the affordable price. We have the latest magnification light to make the procedure easier and quicker.

Laser treatment is highly effective for superficial veins of the face, trunk, and legs. While sclerotherapy is better for medium to large spider, laser therapy is better for the smallest veins and ones that are well distributed on your legs. Clusters of veins are better treated with sclerotherapy or surgery. Laser treatment is administered by passing a laser on the skin over the spider veins.

The laser energy causes the spider veins to coagulate and shrink. Laser treatment feels like a small rubber band snap. A topical anesthetic can be applied if the patient so desires. After treatment, spider veins are darker and more visible, but fade over the next two to six weeks. An average of three treatments is usually required to produce desired results. Combination therapy can be considered and beneficial if you have all sizes of spider veins: small, medium and large. You may wish to start with sclerotherapy, because, sometimes, all veins will be improved after injecting the larger ones. This may reduce the number of veins that need to be treated by laser and may reduce your overall cost. Lasers can cause skin discoloration or fading in darker skin patients or slight burns in fair patients. Laser therapy is a good choice for patients who need to go back to work immediately. For more information, contact Atlantic Plastic Surgery Center at 1-800-633-6860 or on line at http://www.atlanticplasticsurg.com.

About Atlantic Plastic Surgery Center
Atlantic Plastic Surgery Center is the practice of New Hampshire plastic surgeon, Dr. Lawrence N. Gray, in practice here since 1985. He has earned a great deal of respect in both his local medical community and the national plastic surgical community through his many publications, technical skill and personal demeanor. Dr. Gray is nationally and internationally recognized as the inventor of the scarless breast reduction, a revolutionary procedure that eliminates scars associated with the older, traditional method of breast reduction. He has a large following of satisfied patients from across New Hampshire, the United States and a number of foreign countries, who have sought him out for breast augmentation and scarless breast reduction.

Additionally, Dr. Gray is a core investigator for the Mentor and Silimed silicone breast implant studies. Dr. Gray received the significant honor of being the only investigator for the Silimed Corporation’s Silicone study, which is pending FDA approval. Dr. Gray is expected to be the only source for adjustable silicone implants soon. Dr. Gray has taught at educational conferences for the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons and is the only member of the International Society of Plastic Surgeons from New Hampshire.