If you have a vascular lesion, chances are you have nothing to worry about. However, vascular lesions sometimes cause serious side effects when they begin to spread. The expert team at Lake Jackson Medical Spa specializes in treating vascular lesions. They can assess the treatment option best suited to help you stay healthy and safe.
What are vascular lesions?
Vascular lesions are the most common type of skin abnormality. They’re the result of blood vessel growth underneath the surface of the skin, and they usually appear shortly after birth. Lesions may appear in a number of forms: wounds, sores, ulcers, and tumors.
You don’t have to worry about them most of the time. They’re usually benign and require no treatment from a doctor. Vascular lesions can be a serious problem when they spread in certain areas of your body, and this can result in a number of medical complications.
Types of vascular lesions
There are mainly two types of vascular lesions we diagnose: hemangiomas and vascular malformation.
Hemangiomas
Hemangiomas are benign tumors that line blood vessels. They appear red, rubbery, and sometimes stick out from the skin. You’re more likely to experience this type of vascular lesion during childhood, and it can appear anywhere on your body. It usually appears on the face, scalp, chest, or back. Over the course of a few months, the lesion tends to grow and darken. Then it stabilizes and eventually shrinks.
Most vascular lesions disappear completely by the time a child reaches age 10. If a child has a hemangioma near one of their eyes or ears, we highly recommend seeking treatment because this can often lead to permanent blindness or deafness.
Vascular malformation
Vascular malformations appear at birth, but they become more apparent later in life. These malformations create abnormal growth in veins, lymph vessels, arteries, and capillaries. Some of these malformations include:
- Capillary malformations
- Venous malformations
- Lymphatic malformations
- Arterial malformations
- Arteriovenous malformations
- Complex malformations
Depending on where the malformation occurs, you can expect to experience different symptoms, such as pain, infection, bleeding, or stress on the heart.
Treatments
You have a number of options when it comes to treating vascular lesions. You can get a better sense of which one is best for you after a proper medical evaluation. Here are a few of those options:
Icon laser therapy
Icon laser therapy is one of the most efficient and popular treatments among patients. This method targets only the abnormal blood vessels underneath the surface of the skin and leaves the rest of the surrounding tissue intact.
During the laser treatment, Dr. Stephanie Herrera applies a low-level laser to the lesion; the laser travels as far as three inches below the surface of your skin. Once the lasers eliminate the growth, your cells naturally promote production of new healthy cells. This treatment also stimulates the production of collagen and enzymes that prevent scarring. Some of the many benefits of laser therapy include:
- No need for pain medication following procedure
- Improved immune response
- Faster healing
- Reduced swelling
- Improved blood circulation
- Reduced inflammation
There can be some side effects after laser treatment. You may experience minor pain, skin discoloration, bleeding, infection, or crusting.
Cortisone injections
Another treatment to reduce the appearance of vascular lesions is the cortisone shot. These shots contain corticosteroid medication and a local anesthetic. It’s important to note that there’s a limit to the number of injections you can safely take since high doses produce serious side effects. Some of these side effects include thinning of skin and soft tissue around the injection site, whitening of the skin, increase in blood sugar, and poor growth in children.
Sclerotherapy
One other treatment we offer is sclerotherapy. This treatment requires Dr. Herrera to inject the blood vessel with a salt solution. The solution irritates the lining of the blood vessel, causing the blood vessel to collapse and bind together. When the blood begins to clot, the vessel gradually turns into scar tissue until it gradually disappears.
WARNING – You should not have this procedure if you’re pregnant, and you should consult your doctor if you have ever experienced blood clots in the past.
If you have a vascular lesion, you should make sure it doesn’t affect your health. Schedule a consultation with Lake Jackson Medical Spa by calling our office or booking online.
