Thread veins and facial redness can be frustrating, particularly when they become more noticeable over time or leave the skin looking permanently flushed.
Whether you have a few individual vessels around the nose, fine broken capillaries across the cheeks, or more widespread facial redness, not every vascular concern needs to be treated in the same way.
At Alchemy Clinic, I assess the appearance, location and extent of the vessels before recommending the most appropriate treatment for your skin.
Depending on what I see, treatment may include Nd:YAG laser, IPL or advanced electrolysis.
Thread veins are small, visible blood vessels within the skin. You may also hear them referred to as telangiectasia or broken capillaries.
They can appear as fine red lines, branching vessels or small spider-like patterns and are particularly common across the nose, cheeks and other areas of the face.
For some people, there may only be one or two noticeable vessels. For others, there can be a much broader pattern of redness or multiple fine vessels across the face.
And this is why I don't believe in a one-treatment-fits-all approach.
The most appropriate treatment depends on what we're actually looking at.
Visible facial vessels can occur for a number of reasons and can be associated with things such as:
Sometimes the concern is primarily individual visible vessels. Sometimes it is diffuse redness, where there are multiple fine vessels alongside an overall flushed appearance.
Understanding the difference is important when deciding how to treat the skin.
If your facial redness is associated with rosacea, persistent flushing, sensitivity or inflammation, simply treating the visible vessels may not be the whole picture.
This is where my consultation-led approach comes in.
I want to understand why your skin is behaving the way it is, as well as what you would like to change about its appearance.
Your skincare, skin barrier, lifestyle, triggers and history can all form part of that conversation.
Where appropriate, we can work on the health and stability of the skin alongside treating the visible vascular component.
The aim isn't simply to chase redness. It's to understand your skin as a whole.
There isn't one treatment that is automatically right for every vessel.
At Alchemy Clinic, I have three treatment options available, and the right one depends on what we're treating.
A targeted vascular laser treatment that can be used for individual facial veins and more defined vessels.
Nd:YAG laser is used for facial telangiectasia and thread veins, with treatment choice depending on the size, location and characteristics of the vessel.
This can be particularly useful when we're dealing with specific vessels that need a more targeted approach, rather than treating the whole face.
IPL can be used to treat multiple superficial vessels and broader areas of facial redness.
Rather than targeting one individual vessel, IPL delivers pulses of light across the treatment area and can be useful when there is a more widespread pattern of redness or multiple fine vessels.
It can also be useful where vascular concerns sit alongside other signs of photodamage.
Advanced electrolysis allows for a very precise, pinpoint approach to small individual vessels.
It can be particularly useful where there are tiny, isolated vessels that need to be treated individually. Thermocautery/electrosurgical techniques are established approaches for treating small telangiectasias.
You don't need to work this out yourself.
That's exactly what I assess via photos prior to your appointment and then on the day itself.
I'll assess:
From there, I'll recommend the treatment that's most appropriate for your particular vascular concern.
Sometimes that's IPL.
Sometimes it's a targeted Nd:YAG treatment.
Sometimes advanced electrolysis is the better option.
Sometimes we need a combination over a period of time.
And sometimes the best approach is to work on the underlying skin health and inflammation first, before treating the visible vessels.
The aim of vascular treatments is to reduce the appearance of visible vessels and facial redness, rather than simply masking them with makeup.
Results vary depending on the type, size and extent of the vessels being treated. Smaller vessels may respond within fewer treatments, while more extensive vascular concerns can require a course of treatment.
Some temporary redness, swelling or other visible changes can occur after vascular treatments, depending on the treatment used.
We'll discuss expected downtime and aftercare during your consultation so you know exactly what to expect.
If you're fed up with constantly covering broken capillaries, visible veins or facial redness, the first step is to have your skin properly assessed.
Nose
£80
Cheeks
£100
Nose & Cheeks
£120
Nose, Cheeks & Chin
£140
Décolleté
£120
Standard (up to 20 mins)
£75
Extended (up to 30 mins)
£90
