Noticing some redness on your face that just doesn’t go away? If you look closer, or (heaven forbid) get the magnifying mirror out, you’ll most likely see that the blotchiness consists of thin, spidery veins, hence the nickname ‘spider veins’.
‘Broken capillaries are dilated or enlarged blood vessels just beneath the surface of the skin,’ says New York dermatologist Sejal Shah. They typically tend to appear around your nose, on your cheeks, on your chin, and on your legs as you get older.
Spider veins on your legs are not the same as varicose veins, for the record. ‘Spider veins are finer, more thread-like veins, whereas varicose veins are much bigger, coming from the “main” veins in the legs,’ explains Dr Vanessa Lapiner, specialist dermatologist and co-founder of Atlantic Dermatology and Laser in Sea Point. ‘These are caused by weak or damaged valves that should be directing blood flow back up to the heart but aren’t functioning adequately, allowing blood to pool and flow back into the lower legs. They dilate and look like enlarged, twisted veins that typically appear blue or
