Veins under the eyes are visible blood vessels that can appear blue or greenish and can become more prominent due to thinning skin and loss of fat in the face as we age
Visible veins under the eyes can be a cosmetic concern due to the thin dermis of the lower eyelid skin and facial fat volume loss with age. As the eye area is highly sensitive and differs from other facial and body regions, make sure to have any under-eye veins evaluated by an experienced clinician at Centre for Surgery to determine appropriate treatment options.
RELATED: Periorbital Vein Laser Treatment
If deemed suitable, Fotona Laser may be used for under-eye thread vein treatment. This procedure directs pulses of light energy at the problematic vein, causing the blood inside to clot. Subsequently, the vein disintegrates and is absorbed by the body. As a result, blood flow is rerouted to deeper veins within the face.
The procedure typically lasts between 15 to 30 minutes, with cooling gel applied for comfort. The laser vein treatment is a safe and effective method for reducing the appearance of visible under-eye veins, providing a more refreshed and youthful look.
The veins under your eyes are small blood vessels that can sometimes be visible through the skin. This area of skin, known as the periorbital area, is much thinner and more delicate than the skin elsewhere on your body, making the veins underneath more noticeable. Veins under the eyes often require a different treatment approach compared with other types of facial thread veins.
Several factors can make these veins appear more prominent. Ageing is one of them, as our skin naturally loses fat, collagen and elastin over time, making it thinner and more translucent. Genetics can also play a role – some people naturally have thinner skin or more prominent veins in this area.
Other factors can also contribute to the visibility of under-eye veins. For example, fatigue or lack of sleep can cause the skin to pale, making veins more visible. Allergies or eye strain can cause inflammation and swelling that puts pressure on the veins, making them appear more prominent. Certain medical conditions or medications can also affect the appearance of these veins.
While they are typically harmless, some people may choose to seek treatment for cosmetic reasons if they find the appearance of these veins bothersome.
At Centre for Surgery, we’re renowned as one of the UK’s leading clinics specialising in minimally invasive vein treatments. We take immense pride in the excellent results we deliver, as well as our outstanding post-procedure care for all vein treatments. For a visual representation of the effectiveness of our treatments, we invite you to view our before and after photos of under-eye vein removal procedures conducted by our expert team. We encourage you to book a consultation with our specialists to determine the best approach for your individual needs and see an extended gallery of our successful vein removal transformations. Our expert guidance can help you achieve a refreshed, youthful look.
When you notice the veins around your eyes becoming more obvious, several factors are working together to cause this.
Firstly, the genes you inherit from your family play a big role. Just like many features you share with your relatives, the way your skin and veins around the eyes look can also be passed down through generations. If your family members have similar skin issues, it’s likely you might experience them too.
As you get older, the area around your eyes changes a lot. The shape of the eye sockets can shift with age, affecting how the surrounding soft tissue supports itself. This can cause the fat around your eyes to push outwards more, stretching the skin and making the veins stand out. At the same time, your skin gets thinner and clearer, making it easier to see the veins underneath. Also, the amount and strength of collagen, which helps support your skin, decrease as you age. This makes the bigger veins around your eyes puff up and become more noticeable because the skin can’t hold them in as well.
The type of skin you have also affects how visible these veins are. If you have lighter skin, you might see these veins more clearly because your skin is naturally less thick and has less collagen. This means the structure supporting the veins weakens sooner. On the other hand, those with darker skin have more collagen and elasticity, which helps hide the veins for longer. The melanin in darker skin also helps mask the veins by making the skin less transparent.
Spending too much time in the sun can make this situation worse. The UVA rays from the sun can break down the collagen and elastin in your skin. Since the skin around your eyes is very thin, it’s more vulnerable to damage from the sun. This is especially true for people with lighter skin, who have less melanin to protect against UV damage. Over time, this exposure to the sun can speed up the loss of skin strength and elasticity, leading to more visible veins around your eyes.
You might wonder why getting rid of veins around the eyes is such a hard task.
First off, the NHS doesn’t offer treatments for these noticeable veins since they’re seen more as a beauty concern than a health issue. So, you’d have to look for help in the private healthcare sector in the UK.
Because the NHS doesn’t deal with this, a lot of doctors haven’t been trained to tackle it, meaning they lack the know-how. Only a few private clinics have the right skills, training, and permission to do these treatments.
The tools needed for this job aren’t widely available either. We’re talking about powerful lasers that are rare and usually not used for cosmetic reasons like fixing eye veins in the few NHS places that have them.
It takes a lot of skill to treat eye veins without causing harm. Using the wrong laser settings can harm the super sensitive skin around your eyes, causing burns or scars.
Doctors need a lot of experience, possibly treating thousands of cases, to get good at this. They have to be experts at adjusting the laser just right, considering things like how deep the laser goes, the laser pulse length, and its strength. They also need to know how to use special eye protection to keep the laser from hurting your eyes.
Then there’s another method, called Sclerotherapy, that isn’t laser-based and involves injecting a solution into the veins. But it’s very risky near the eyes because of how close the veins are to important ones that go to your retina. There’s a scary risk of blindness from messing up the blood flow to your retina or causing an air blockage. Some places try to lessen this risk by tying off parts of the vein before injecting, but it’s still pretty risky and not a well-trusted method.
Even though some clinics around the world try this, it needs a highly skilled hand. Most experts are wary of this method and generally advise against using these injections around the eyes.
The laser method, when done by experts, is safer because it targets only the big vein and doesn’t risk affecting your retina or brain. The best laser for this is called an NdYAG laser, known as the best option for safely zapping big, blue veins around the eyes.
Going for laser treatment to sort out veins under your eyes comes with a bunch of perks:
Patients often don’t achieve the desired results when treating larger veins around the eye because many aesthetic or dermatology clinics may refuse to perform such treatments. This may be due to misconceptions about safety. Some may incorrectly inform patients that eliminating these veins could compromise the venous blood circulation around the eye, which is not accurate.
When treated with the NdYAG laser, there is no risk of impairing blood drainage from the tissue around the eye. Should a vein segment be lasered, the venous blood will simply reroute through the myriad alternative vein pathways in the vicinity of the eye. Moreover, the human body has a natural process of forming new blood vessels, known as neovascularisation, which kicks in when the circulation is potentially compromised.
Regrettably, due to a lack of understanding of light-tissue interaction, coupled with inadequate experience or training, some practitioners might inappropriately use Pulse Dye Laser or IPL devices (Intense Pulse Light) for this purpose. While these methods might be somewhat effective in addressing generalised redness or tiny capillaries around the eye, they are utterly inadequate for treating larger blue, green, purple or red veins near the eye. If a practitioner attempts to use these methods, the procedure is bound to fail, even if repeated multiple times. This not only results in unnecessary trauma to the patient but also fails to seal the vessel successfully, owing to the poor absorption of light energy from these Laser/IPL devices by venous blood.
At our clinic, we utilise the Fotona NdYAG 1064nm laser to treat larger veins around the eye. This particular laser device is currently the most appropriate for this purpose.
Using this laser safely and effectively around the eye necessitates comprehensive knowledge and experience, something our clinicians possess in abundance. Having routinely performed periorbital vein treatments over the years, our clinicians have accumulated over a decade of experience, successfully completing hundreds of laser vein cases.
In instances where the vein can be safely treated over the bone, we utilise external metal eye shields for protection. For cases where the vein is closer to the eye or on the eyelids, we use internal metal eye shields.
However, if there are smaller red capillaries on the eyelids, your practitioner might opt to treat these with the 532nm laser. While this laser wavelength is more suited for smaller red vessels around the eyes as opposed to the NdYAG laser, it can still cause trauma to the eye and thus requires the insertion of internal metal eye shields for protection.
For more complex cases, where deemed necessary by your specialist, we can perform ultrasound-guided vascular treatment. This technique involves using a high-resolution ultrasound scanner to evaluate vein diameter. It allows for a more precise assessment of the vessel diameter and calculation of the appropriate laser pulse width. Additionally, the use of high-resolution ultrasound lets the clinician evaluate when the vein has been adequately treated.
In today’s fast-paced world, looking your best can boost your confidence. One innovative way to enhance your appearance is through a straightforward laser procedure aimed at diminishing those pesky veins under your eyes, which can sometimes make you look tired or older. Here’s how this cutting-edge treatment unfolds, tailored for a younger audience seeking clarity and simplicity:
Starting Point – The Chat: Your journey begins with a casual yet informative chat with a healthcare expert. This is where they get a feel for what you’re hoping to achieve and determine if this laser magic is a good fit for you. It’s a bit like matching puzzle pieces to ensure you get the look you desire.
Getting Ready: On the big day, you’ll kick things off by getting the skin around your eyes cleaned up nice and neat. To keep your eyes safe from the laser light show, you’ll pop on some cool protective goggles. They might even apply a chilly gel on your skin to keep things comfortable.
The Main Event – Laser Time: Now, it’s time for the star of the show, the Fotona Laser. This isn’t just any laser – it’s specially designed to gently target and zap away those under-eye veins. The heat from the laser makes the blood in the veins thicken and eventually breaks down these tiny vessels. Your body’s got it from there, absorbing what’s left and rerouting blood to where it’s supposed to go.
Chill and Heal: After the laser does its thing, you might notice a bit of puffiness or a hint of redness, but don’t fret – it’s all part of the healing process and fades away quickly. You’ll get the lowdown on how to take care of the area to ensure everything heals up nicely and the results shine through.
Checking In: You’re not going at this alone – a follow-up visit ensures everything’s healing as expected, and you’re loving the results. Depending on how things look, a couple more sessions might be on the cards to get everything just right.
The whole thing’s over in about half an hour, and it’s pretty chill for most patients. While you might catch a glimpse of the improvements right away, the full effect comes into play within a week or two, as your body naturally clears away the targeted veins.
Choosing Centre for Surgery ensures expert medical practitioners treat you with years of experience and access to state-of-the-art facilities registered by the CQC (Care Quality Commission). We take pride in offering advanced, minimally invasive treatment options through our innovative approach aimed at reducing downtime. Our focus is on personalised care to cater to your specific needs. Our non-surgical treatments are designed to ensure minimal disruption to your life, letting you get back to your routine as quickly as possible. Choose Centre for Surgery for a safe, effective, patient-centric cosmetic enhancement experience.