How to Get Rid of Spider Veins and Varicose Veins Naturally

A picture of Rahul Sood

Rahul Sood

Varicose veins on an elderly woman

Spider and varicose veins are enlarged and swollen veins that often appear as purple, blue, and red weblike lines across the body. While not harmful in itself, people have been trying to minimize the appearance of spider veins for centuries. Throughout the years there have been many treatments and procedures, both medical and recreational, claiming to prevent or minimize spider and varicose veins. While both medical and DIY recreational methods remain popular in the efforts to remove spider and varicose Veins, there’s doubt circulating on the effectiveness of natural remedies. 

So can you actually naturally get rid of spider veins and varicose veins? Essentially, the answer is no. Once spider and varicose veins are formed, little can be done naturally to remove them. While natural methods can’t remove spider and varicose veins, you can use natural methods to prevent them from occurring in the first place! Exercise, elevation, diet, massage, and more can effectively help in the reduction of spider and varicose veins from occurring.  

Read More: Massage Therapy for Spider Veins: Is It Really Effective?

Natural Treatments to Help Prevent Spider and Varicose Veins

While there aren’t guaranteed treatments for spider and varicose veins, you can do our part in lessening the likelihood of these happening. Some treatments that can help prevent spider and varicose veins are exercise, leg elevation, weight control and management, diet and supplements, massage, and SPF.  

1) Exercise

With spider and varicose veins often occurring due to weak blood vessels and poor blood flow, keeping your veins and blood circulation in good health is important in preventing them. One of the best ways to do this is through exercise. Most types of exercise can help strengthen your cardiovascular muscles and produce healthy veins while promoting good blood circulation throughout your body. 

Due to the benefits of regular exercise, it’s possible to use it as a preventative measure against varicose or spider veins from forming in the first place. While exercise is an effective and natural way to prevent varicose and spider veins, it’s important to note that it can’t do much for varicose and spider veins that are already formed. 

2) Elevation for Circulation 

When it comes to natural remedies to prevent varicose and spider veins, elevations have always been a popular practice particularly for leg veins. While laying down flat or slightly inclined, elevation calls for you to place your legs on top of a pillow and raise them slightly above your heart line. Targeting the legs, which is one of the more common areas for varicose veins to appear, elevation is essentially supposed to help blood flow from your legs and prevent blood pools in that area. 

With the amount of time most people spend standing or sitting, elevation is a great exercise that can be done throughout the day to promote the flow of blood and reduce the chances of developing visible spider veins. To get the best results against visible spider veins, it has been suggested to elevate your legs 3 to 4 times a day every day for 15 minutes. 

3) Weight Control and Management

With varicose veins and spider veins directly linked to pressure placed on your veins, maintaining a healthy weight could help prevent them from occurring. While your feet and legs are always under constant pressure, having excess weight will add unnecessary pressure needing to be carried in that area.

Due to this, it’s likely that your vein walls will swell and prevent proper blood flow causing varicose and spider veins to appear. By maintaining a healthy weight, you’ll naturally alleviate any extra pressure on your legs and other parts of your body, promoting healthy veins and minimizing the possibility of visible veins. 

4) Diet and Supplements 

​​Going hand in hand with weight control, your diet can also play a role in naturally preventing spider and varicose veins. With inflammation being the main cause of spider and varicose veins, eating anti-inflammatory foods and a dietary supplement could decrease the chances of their development. Examples of anti-inflammatory foods include berries, fish, avocados, and olive oil.  

Herbal supplements and natural remedies have also been said to help reduce inflammation which includes natural ingredients like turmeric and peppers. By regularly including anti-inflammatory foods and supplements in your diet, you’re more likely to not have a venous insufficiency that could lead to varicose veins.

5) Massage 

While not the most known treatment, getting a massage or massaging a specific area has been said to help reduce varicose and spider veins from appearing on the skin naturally. By massaging the body or a specific area, you’re promoting the flow of blood and healthy circulation which can prevent the cause of varicose and spider veins. In addition to blood flow, massage can reduce swelling and inflammation which will also help prevent the varicose and spider veins from appearing on the skin.  

6) SPF 

Over the years, it has been found that the development of varicose and spider veins can be linked to sun exposure and tanning. This is because of the overexposure to UVA and UVB rays people get when out in the sun for too long. These rays cause damage to collagen and tissue formations which can leave your body with weaker cells including those that make up your veins. 

While you can’t completely avoid the sun, you can wear SPF to prevent sun damage to both superficial and deeper veins in your body. It’s recommended to use an SPF of at least 30 on parts of your body like your face, hands, neck, arms, and legs, which are usually exposed to the sun. By using SPF, you limit the possibility of damaging collagen and tissue cells and ultimately the possibility of spider and varicose veins

Read More: Home Solutions for Facial Spider Veins

Can Natural Treatments Prevent or Remove Spider and Varicose Veins Completely?

elderly woman having pain from veins in her legs

While natural treatments can help prevent spider and varicose veins, it’s unlikely that any natural treatment will completely prevent them or remove pre-existing spider and varicose veins. Once your varicose veins or spider veins are visible, there have been no natural or topical treatments that have been able to clinically deliver results wherein the veins are completely removed.

Medical Treatments for Existing Spider and Varicose Veins

While it’s not necessary for you to remove any varicose or spider veins found in your body, if you chose to do so, there are surgical or minimally invasive medical treatments that have been shown to prove great results:

1) Sclerotherapy 

Sclerotherapy is a procedure wherein a solution is injected into your skin where varicose or spider veins are visible. The solution causes the vein to essentially collapse and hinder any blood from passing through the vein. This in turn removes the spider-like appearance of the vein on your skin.

2) Laser Treatment

If you want a minimally invasive treatment to remove your spider and varicose veins, lasers have been shown to be an effective procedure to remove visible veins. Using a laser and a catheter, the procedure transmits heat to the varicose and spider veins forcing the vein to close. Once the vein is closed and blood can no longer pass through, the spider and varicose veins appearing on your skin will be gone. 

Read More: 4 Positive Effects of Laser Treatments on Eliminating Spider and Varicose Veins

Safe and Effective Varicose Vein Treatments at The Vein Clinic Doctor Today

mature woman happy with her legs after vein treatment

Since getting rid of spider veins and varicose veins naturally is difficult, the best you can do now is to prevent its occurrence by dropping habits that cause or aggravate existing vein conditions, squeezing certain practices into your daily routines, and most importantly, having the professionals handle your vein problems so as to keep your skin clear, smooth, and vein-free. 

Consult the experts regarding your varicose spider veins concerns. Whether it be how to prevent spider veins or procedures to remove varicose veins, we are sure to have the right treatment for you. Contact us and book any of our surgical or non-surgical treatments to eliminate your spider veins, varicose veins, and other venous conditions.

Rahul Sood

DO, R.PH

About Rahul Sood

Dr. Rahul Sood is a triple board-certified physician who specializes in cosmetic vein treatment, namely spider veins and varicose veins, as well as any accompanying issues related to venous insufficiency such as leg pain. He has carried out over 10,000 leg procedures during 10-plus year career and is highly regarded throughout Westchester County and New Jersey.

Read More