Broken Capillaries
Conditions
What is a Broken Capillaries?
Broken capillaries are visible, tiny red or blue clusters of blood vessels. Medically known as telangiectasia, broken capillaries or spider veins are the result of vein damage directly below the surface of your skin. When your capillaries are damaged from continuous dilation (opening and closing), they will become noticeable, spiderweb-like clusters. These ruptures will most likely appear on your face, like your nose, cheeks, chin and around your mouth. Broken capillaries can also show up on your chest and legs.
What are the symptoms of broken capillaries?
If you currently encounter frequent facial redness, known as erythema, or rosacea, then there’s a high likelihood you will develop broken capillaries. This condition is not physically painful, but the visibility of the clusters could take toll on your self-esteem.
What causes broken capillaries?
If your capillaries are dilating too often or too quickly, it is likely they will become permanently dilated. This action will also weaken the walls of your capillaries. Once the walls of your capillaries are weakened, there is a considerable chance they will tear and blood will flow outwards. If your capillaries tear, it will result in the noticeable clusters.
The development of broken capillaries is most dependent on your genetics and age. As you age, your skin will gradually produce less collagen, which will leave your skin weaker, thinner and less flexible. This process will make you more susceptible to many unwanted skin conditions, like broken capillaries.
Facial redness and rosacea may not lead to broken capillaries, but because they involve the dilation of veins, they are usually contributing factors . Like facial redness and rosacea, broken capillaries most commonly affect fair-skinned individuals.
There are many other factors that can contribute to the development of broken capillaries, and most of them are preventable.
They include:
- Sun exposure
- Polarizing temperatures (extremely hot or cold)
- Other extreme weather conditions, like wind and humidity
- Hormonal changes (like pregnancy or menopause)
- Stress
- Dehydration
- Being overweight
- Poor diet
- Inactivity
- Smoking
- Eating spicy foods
- Drinking alcohol
- Constant pressure on a certain area of the skin
- Trauma to the skin
- Hot showers or baths
- Sitting in a sauna
- Intense exercise
- Continuous skin inflammation (from acne or rosacea)
- Circulation problems
- Scrubbing the skin
- Blood pressure medications
- Steroids
How can broken capillaries be treated?
Your body may eventually repair the capillary damage that creates spider veins, but sadly, many times that is not the case. Luckily, there are many successful treatments that can dramatically diminish the appearance of your broken capillaries, if they don’t eliminate them completely.
It would be wise to first look over the list of contributing factors and see what you can do to prevent further damage to your skin. After that, you should consult with a doctor who can create a thorough and effective treatment plan for you. For instance, there are topical medications that doctors can prescribe that contain retinoids. Retinoids will regulate skin cell growth, but unfortunately, it does not guarantee that it will cure all of your broken capillaries. The most certain solution to broken capillaries is laser technology. Laser technology, like the FotoFacial RF correct unwanted skin discoloration. The FotoFacial RF uses bright, pulsed light coupled with radiofrequency electrical energy to penetrate the deep layers of your skin alter your collagen
