Does the Sun in Florida Affect Your Vein Health?
So many people in the United States are deficient in vitamin D3, the sunshine vitamin, but those of you in Florida are blessed with an abundance of this health-boosting vitamin. However, can all that beautiful Florida sunshine be negatively affecting your vein health?
Sun exposure can make you more susceptible to spider veins while also exacerbating existing spider veins. Additionally, the heat from the sun can aggravate varicose veins, making them more swollen.
We’ll discuss how the Florida sun can affect your vein health and what you can do to protect your veins while still getting your daily dose of the sunshine vitamin.
How Does the Sun Affect Your Veins?
The sun can have some positive effects on your health and wellness, like helping fulfill your vitamin D3 needs, elevating your mood, and giving your skin a glow. But unfortunately, the sun’s rays can also have some negative effects, particularly on the skin, most notably premature aging and increased risk of skin cancer. Beyond that, the sun can also be harmful to the health and appearance of your veins.
Some of the ways the sun can affect your veins are:
- Making existent varicose veins more swollen
- Causing spider veins, particularly on the face
- Breaking down collagen and blood vessels
The Sun Can Exacerbate Varicose Veins
Sun exposure can’t cause varicose veins, but it can make existent varicose veins more noticeable. It has more to do with the heat — hot weather can cause the veins to dilate and become distended. Your varicose veins will become larger and more painful from the pressure of additional blood filling up the veins.
Sun Exposure Can Contribute to Spider Veins
The sun can cause spider veins to develop, especially on your face since that’s the part of your skin that is most exposed to sunlight. If you spend a lot of time sunbathing, you’re more likely to see sun-related spider veins on other areas of your body as well. Ironically, some people tan to decrease the appearance of skin imperfections like spider veins, breakouts, cellulite, or other visible veins due to fair or thin skin, but the tanning can actually make these problems worse.
The Sun is Not Your Collagen’s Friend
Collagen is a protein found in your connective tissues that is responsible for your skin’s structure. Healthy collagen production helps to keep your skin hydrated, soft, and supple but as you age, your collagen production starts to slow down. Sun exposure can break down the collagen and blood vessels beneath your skin which can show up as spider veins.
When you spend a lot of time in the sun during your younger years, you won’t usually notice the sun’s negative effects since your body is still producing optimal amounts of collagen. But as you get older and collagen production starts to dip, you’ll see more sun-related skin conditions like premature aging, sunspots, and spider veins.
How Can You Treat Vein Damage from the Sun?
If you’ve enjoyed more than your fair share of Florida sunshine and your veins are paying for it now, you’ll want to consider some treatment options to help alleviate the damage. Unfortunately, once the sun has made its mark in the form of spider veins, they won’t go away when the sun goes down.
You’ll need to schedule an appointment for vein treatment to rid yourself of the spidery little veins on your face, chest, or legs. The recommended procedure will vary based on the location of the spider veins.
Some possible treatments for your sun-inflicted spider veins include:
- Electrocautery
- Radiofrequency
- IPL (intense pulsed light)
- Sclerotherapy
Electrocautery and radio-frequency
Both procedures used to treat small spider veins on the face. These can be a better option for spider veins on the face that are very tiny and can’t be treated with sclerotherapy. In these procedures, a fine pointy tip is used to vaporize the spider veins. Electrocautery and radio-frequency tend to be quite effective and the skin experiences only brief irritation afterward with only a small chance of scarring.
IPL (intense pulsed light)
Is a popular way to treat spider veins on the face, although it can also be used to treat these veins in the legs. The pulsed light is used to break up the spider veins so they’re not as visible. This differs from traditional laser treatments in that IPL treats the second layer of skin without disturbing the top layer. Not only does it help make spider veins less noticeable, but it also encourages cell regeneration and reduction of bacteria so it can leave your skin healthier than prior to treatment. Unlike electrocautery and radiofrequency, IPL is better tailored to facial spider veins that are more pronounced.
Sclerotherapy
Involves the injection of a sclerosant, or irritating solution, into the spider veins to close off the veins so blood will reroute to the surrounding veins. With time, the vein will be absorbed by surrounding tissues and will disappear. Sclerotherapy can be used to treat larger spider veins on the face and legs and is a convenient option since it can achieve visible results immediately and require little to no downtime.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Veins from the Sun?
You don’t have to completely avoid the sun to prevent spider veins or aggravation of an existent vein issue. However, there are some recommendations for how you can decrease the chances of the sun wreaking havoc on your vein health.
Some tips for taking care of your veins and preventing sun damage are:
- Use sunscreen
- Avoid sun exposure after vein treatments
Using sunscreen
Is helpful for protecting your veins from the harmful effects of sun exposure. If you’re not already using sunscreen, this should become part of your routine for your vein health as well as the overall health of your skin.
Avoiding sun exposure after vein treatments
Is especially important to reduce changes in skin pigmentation. Your doctor will let you know how long you should stay out of the sun after your procedure since it will vary based on your treatment. It is typically anywhere between 3 to 8 weeks and once you can get back out in the sun, it is highly recommended to apply sunscreen.
Summary
Now you know how and why the Florida sun can cause spider veins and what lifestyle and dietary changes you can make to prevent or reduce the appearance of spider veins. Awareness of what makes you more susceptible to spider veins can help you make the changes you need to promote the health of your veins. As much as home treatments can help make spider veins less visible, they are not likely to eliminate the veins, but you can opt for treatment to eliminate them.
While a healthy diet and lifestyle are extremely helpful for preventing or decreasing the appearance of spider veins, it’s important to seek out professional care if the problem persists. If you’re experiencing symptoms from spider veins that don’t respond to diet and lifestyle changes, contact us today to book an appointment.
