Before you book
Every appointment starts with an assessment rather than a treatment. Your clinician looks at the vessels themselves, asks about your medical history and medication, and checks for anything that would make treatment unwise — active skin infection, certain blood-thinning medication, a pacemaker, or leg veins that suggest a deeper venous issue needing a different pathway.
This is also where expectations get set honestly. Some patterns of veins clear in one session. Others need two or three. You should leave the assessment knowing which is likely for you, and what it will cost, before you commit to anything.
During the session
The skin is cleansed and the area is worked through vessel by vessel. A very fine insulated probe sits on the surface of the skin over the vein — nothing is injected and nothing punctures the vessel. Each application lasts a fraction of a second.
Most people describe it as a brief hot pinprick or a flick of an elastic band. It is well tolerated without anaesthetic. Sessions are booked by time rather than by vein count, so a 15-minute session covers smaller or single areas and a 30-minute session covers larger or multiple areas.
The satisfying part is that you see it working. Treated vessels blanch and vanish as they are sealed.
Immediately afterwards
Expect the treated area to look pink, slightly raised or a little blotchy for a few hours to a couple of days. Tiny scabs sometimes form over the treated lines and lift on their own within a week. Do not pick them — that is the one thing that can affect the final result.
There is no formal downtime. Most people go straight back to work, though you may prefer to plan around a social event.
Aftercare that matters
For roughly two weeks: high-factor SPF daily on treated facial areas, no sunbeds, no saunas, steam rooms or very hot baths, and no vigorous exercise for the first 24 hours. Avoid active skincare — retinoids, acids, strong vitamin C — on the treated area until it has settled. Keep makeup off it for the first day if you can.
You will be given all of this in writing, and a review point so progress can be checked properly rather than guessed at.
How many sessions?
One session clears many cases. Widespread facial redness or extensive leg veins commonly take two or three, spaced four to six weeks apart so the skin fully recovers between visits. Any clinic promising a guaranteed single-session result before it has seen your skin is guessing.