About the best I can suggest is a self tanner to help darken your skin enough to diminish their appearance. Unless they're varicose veins that are causing pain, I doubt there is much you can do about it.

I've done these treatments a number of times over the past 25+ years. I started with one of the first doctors in LA to ever do it. He was the best, using a very strong solution and working on small areas at a time. Now they will do an entire leg with a less strong solution and the results have never been as good.

So I will say, check around for a quality doctor. I have restless leg syndrome from them, so I've often gotten insurance coverage or the procedure qualified for payment from my healthcare spending account.

I have also heard that laser is good for the smaller veins, but haven't tried it yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: sclerotherapy

If your legs are symptomatic and you have documented reflux in your veins, a vascular surgeon can perform an RFA (radio frequency,ablation) procedure in his or her.office. If you meet certain guidelines (size f veins measured by venous Doppler ultrasound) your insurance will pay for the procedure. You can also pay,for it yourself but costs several thousand dollars.

I had a larger vein that was faulty catheterized because I was having leg pain and swelling due to it. My insurance paid for that. Then I had several spider veins done with sclerotherapy that I paid for. I had this done a couple of years ago and could stand to have it done again. I didn't hurt at all, little stinging that's all.

Oh the joys of genetics! My mom had several done many years ago with a stronger solution, but she still had more to come up also. I think she told me she hasn't worn shorts since she was in her 20's.

A good quality support hose (from a Dr.) will help to avoid some, but who wants to wear those everyday.

Unfortunately, the only thing I've found to hide them is a tan, either real or fake.

Good luck. :)

I inherited my mom's veins as well. I have a ton of spider veins so I had the sclerotherapy procedure. The doctor injected a salt solution using a very fine needle. She did all of the veins at one time - both legs, all over. I have a high pain tolerance but if you don't I wouldn't suggest doing them all at one time.

They totally disappeared but eventually new ones surfaced. Not as many but enough to want to do the procedure again. It wasn't cheap and insurance did not cover.

I was just diagnosed with venous insufficiency. I really just care about my legs looking better but it does cause my legs to feel tired and I have restless leg syndrome.

The plan is to wear support stockings for 3 months (I just wear them occasionally) and then go back to the dr. in November. There I will tell him (the support stockings do not improve my tired legs etc.). I will then have laser procedures (already scheduled) starting at the end of December.

Due to the fact that I have double veins in my legs (1 in 100 do) I have to have 4 procedures. 1 per week. Just can't exercise on the day of the procedure. Basically what looks like a pin with a cord attached is inserted into your leg. It has a laser on the tip. I don't know the details of what is done as that will be discussed in November. It is covered by insurance. I will have 20% copay.

These procedures should make my legs look much better. If I am not completely happy then I can have additional (different) procedures done on my own dime. It should also greatly give me more energy in my legs and help me sleep better.

Go to a good doctor and have them diagnose you. Not having proper blood flow can lead to other complications and is a matter of quality of life. Some doctors just fix the look of the legs and not the underlying issue.

"The plan is to wear support stockings for 3 months (I just wear them occasionally) and then go back to the dr. in November. There I will tell him (the support stockings do not improve my tired legs etc.). I will then have laser procedures (already scheduled) starting at the end of December."

Is your doctor actually suggesting you do this as an end run around your insurance company?

The vein I had catheterized was the same procedure as debrak. I had to wear prescription support hose (who knew there was such a thing) for 3 months, day and night, to see if my leg pain and swelling improved, once it did not, only then would my insurance co. pay for the dr. to dissolve/collapse the vein.

Unfortunately for me, that procedure did nothing to improve the appearance of my leg, even though the faulty vein was contributing to some of my spider veins, none of them went away after the larger faulty vein was fixed. My leg felt much better, the swelling subsided and I could finally sleep again without a dull ache in my leg, so it was still worth it.

My doctor recommends everyone wear support stockings every day. I was told many patients are happy after the 3 months and don't want the procedures. Perhaps it was the condition of my veins but they scheduled the procedures saying at the November appointment we will decide weather to cancel them or not. One issue is timing. These procedures need to be done in cooler weather as for a short time after the procedure your legs can't be in sunlight due to possible scarring. Setting these appointments assured winter appointments.

I hate wearing the stockings. They make me feel like the circulation is being cut off in my feet. Perhaps while wearing them and walking my legs do feel better, after taking them off they tend to feel worse.