Venous Lake Treatment
Lip Vein Treatment
Complaint: Venous Lake on the Lip
Treatment: Vascular Laser Treatment
This patient came seeking venous lake treatment for the lesion on his lip. This unsightly lip vein caused the patient to feel very self-conscious and concerned him since it looks similar to a melanoma.
Venous lakes are lesions that typically appear as small dark-blueish-colored spots on the edge of the lips, ears, face, or neck. Since a venous lake is so similar in appearance to melanoma, it’s very important to have these examined to be certain. They are soft, generally a few millimeters in diameter, and can be slightly raised. Venous lakes can be found in other sun-exposed areas like the back of the hand in elderly people. Though they are typically asymptomatic, trauma such as bumping can cause them to become tender or bleed.
The patient was evaluated by Dr. Gardner, who determined that a simple treatment with the Dornier Vascular Laser would be most effective to remove the unsightly lesion. The energy from the laser ablates the bothersome surface vein by absorbing laser energy into the vessel, eliminating the blood flow through that vein.
Before and After pictures of the patient show before, immediately after, one-week post-treatment, and two weeks post-treatment.
- Immediately following the procedure, the venous lake changed from a dark bluish-purple to gray and white, already making it far less noticeable.
- One week post-treatment, the patient still had a small red mark, but it was healing very well.
- At two weeks post-treatment, there is virtually no trace that the venous lake ever existed. These results are typical for most patients after only one treatment.
To learn more about Cosmetic Vein Treatment read It’s Not Vain to Take Care of Your Veins: Cosmetic Treatment for Veins.
To learn more about Venous Lakes, visit ScienceDirect or AOCD.