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The complete guide to beating thread veins

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The thought of getting into a bikini is enough to send any woman into a panic, but if you suffer from thread veins you could be panicking more than most.

The tiny red veins can affect the face, arms and thighs - exactly the places we want to show off in the summer. Although they do not cause a medical problem, they can be unsightly and embarrassing.

One in five women suffers from thread veins in their 20s, rising to nearly 50 per cent of all women over the age of 50.

But they are not inevitable - there are a number of steps you can take to prevent them and even if they do appear, you can choose a range of treatments to fight them.

Follow our guide to spotting, preventing and treating thread veins by clicking on the links below.

And click in the blue box above to talk to others or ask our cosmetic surgeon for advice.

Thread veins: what are they?

Thread veins - or to give them their proper name telangiectasis - are very fine red veins that normally appear on the cheeks, near the nose or on your arms and legs.

Commonly called 'broken' veins, they are not broken at all but are a result of dilated capillaries - the tiny blood vessels in your skin that widen and fill with blood. They are more noticeable in older women because their skin is thinner, exposing the thread veins.

Thread veins are triggered by an increase in blood flow through the tiny vessels in the skin. No-one really knows what provokes this increase, but several causes including a change in hormones, washing your face in hot water or sunburn have all been linked to thread veins.

You may worry that thread veins could lead to varicose veins but this is not the case. Thread veins are part of the same family of blood pressure problems in the legs but are at the bottom end of the scale.

If you have varicose veins you are also likely to have thread veins, but not vice versa.

Varicose veins are caused by the walls of the veins collapsing under the pressure of the blood rather the veins dilating. If you are worried you may have varicose veins, see your doctor for a proper diagnosis.

Click on the links at the bottom of the page to learn how to prevent and treat thread veins.