Spider Angiomas: What They Are and Their Link to Alcohol

It's Monday morning. You're getting ready for work, washing your face, when you notice a red dot on your cheek. Looking closer, you see a red, web-like shape around it. Did you scratch yourself? Get bitten by a radioactive spider?

While the spider story is more exciting, the likely explanation is a spider angioma. Let's explore this condition and its connection to alcohol.

How Alcohol Affects Your Veins

Before diving into spider angiomas, it helps to understand alcohol's impact on your circulatory system. Alcohol can widen or narrow blood vessels, depending on how much you drink. As your liver processes alcohol, it can't filter toxins effectively. Toxins build up, thickening the blood and increasing pressure on veins. This damage can lead to various conditions, including spider angiomas.

What Is a Spider Angioma?

A spider angioma is a vascular lesion appearing just under the skin. It looks like a red spider web with a central red dot. These occur when blood vessels near the skin's surface dilate. They can appear on the face, arms, neck, fingers, legs, or torso.

Causes of Spider Angiomas

Spider angiomas form when blood vessels under the skin dilate. The exact cause isn't fully understood, but they're influenced by the liver and hormones. They're common in children, adults, and especially pregnant women due to hormonal shifts. Multiple spider angiomas may signal liver disease, though most clear up on their own. Alcohol consumption is another known cause.

Alcohol's Role in Spider Angiomas

Alcohol contributes to spider angiomas in several ways:

• Vein Effects: Alcohol is a vasodilator, widening blood vessels. If this happens near the skin, a spider angioma can appear.
• Liver Impact: Alcohol damages the liver, and spider angiomas are a symptom of liver diseases like cirrhosis.
• Hormonal Changes: High estrogen levels make spider angiomas more likely. Alcohol increases estrogen, raising risk for everyone, not just women. Elevated estrogen is also linked to liver cirrhosis.
• Inflammation: Alcohol causes inflammation, which can redden and irritate the skin.
• Dehydration: As a diuretic, alcohol leads to water loss, dehydrating you and impairing circulation, which can worsen spider angiomas.

How Common Are Spider Angiomas in Alcohol Users?

Spider angiomas are frequent in people with liver cirrhosis, especially alcohol-related cirrhosis. One study found 33% of cirrhosis patients had spider angiomas.

Treating Spider Angiomas

If you have a spider angioma, consider these options:

• Leave It Alone: Many disappear on their own, though it may take months or years.
• Laser Therapy: A dermatologist can use lasers to remove them.
• Burning (Electrodesiccation): An electric needle is applied to remove the lesion.
• Stay Hydrated: Good hydration supports skin health and blood flow.
• Avoid Alcohol: Since alcohol can cause spider angiomas, avoiding it helps during treatment.

Prevention is best: manage hormones, limit alcohol, and stay hydrated.

Spider Veins and Alcohol

Spider veins differ from spider angiomas—they're flat, blue, and stem from damaged capillaries, not veins. Common on legs and face, they're caused by sun exposure, smoking, inactivity, obesity, and genetics. Alcohol damages veins and circulation, harming capillaries and leading to spider veins.

Treating Spider Veins

Options include:

• Laser Therapy: Lasers heat and destroy the damaged vein.
• Surgery (Sclerotherapy): A solution is injected to close the vein, with results in weeks.

Prevent spider veins by limiting alcohol, staying active, protecting skin from sun, and not smoking.

Does Alcohol Cause Varicose Veins?

Varicose veins are swollen, bulging veins, usually in legs, from high blood pressure in veins. Causes include genetics, age, weight, gender, prolonged sitting/standing, and tight clothing. Alcohol increases risk by damaging veins, disrupting circulation, and releasing estrogen, which weakens vein walls. One study found weekly drinkers had more varicose veins.

Treating Varicose Veins

Treatments are more involved:

• Surgery (Sclerotherapy): Similar to spider vein treatment.
• Laser Therapy: Uses a tube and laser to close the vein.
• Vein Removal: Surgical removal of affected veins; deep veins handle blood flow afterward.
• Leg Elevation: Raising legs several times daily reduces pressure.
• Compression Stockings: Special garments compress legs, aiding comfort and blood flow.

Prevent varicose veins with activity, heart-healthy foods, and reducing alcohol.

A Connected Web

Your veins connect your entire body, so what you consume affects them. Alcohol interacts with veins in complex ways, leading to various issues over time. As you age, veins naturally weaken, so a healthy lifestyle is key to maintaining good circulation and keeping your skin clear. Cutting back on alcohol supports vein health and overall well-being, helping you become your healthiest self.