What Causes Broken Capillaries on the Face (And How to Prevent Them)

Updated and reviewed by Dr. Ramandeep Sidhu

September 2, 2026

Facial veins are generally not dangerous, but they are a cosmetic condition that men and women alike find undesirable. Whether they are true spider veins or a result of broken blood vessels, facial veins can diminish your appearance as well as your confidence. Many broken blood vessels are not abnormal in the sense that they don't work. Instead, they are capillaries that enlarge and dilate due to various conditions. When these small vessels dilate or enlarge, they bulge due to extra blood and thinning skin as we age. Those closest to the skin's surface become more noticeable.

Facial spider veins become more common with age, as the body's veins can weaken and become more likely to stretch when affected by various factors. Facial veins also become more prominent as skin thins, making dilated veins more apparent.

Understanding the Causes of Broken Capillaries on the Face

Broken capillaries and facial spider veins are similar but differ slightly. Spider veins occur on the legs and face, often concentrated on the nose and cheeks. Capillaries connect arteries and veins and help transport water, oxygen and nutrients between the blood and tissue. Sometimes, they dilate so much that they cannot return to their normal size. When this happens, they can cause prolonged, long-lasting skin discoloration. These capillaries stay over-dilated and remain visible, causing a condition known as telangiectasia.

Although the condition is not painful, it makes the skin look red, splotchy, and aged. Some professionals refer to many broken blood vessels in the same area as spider veins. Telangiectasia are generally very fine, superficial veins. When bright red, the blood usually comes from small arteries before the capillaries. If it is blue or purple, the blood is in the veins after the capillary network.

Prominent Veins on the Face

Broken Capillaries vs. Facial Spider Veins: What’s the Difference?

Broken capillaries are delicate, thread-like red lines less than .02 millimeters wide. They are most common on the nose, cheeks, and chin. Facial spider veins are slightly larger, distinct red or bluish vessels fed by weakened vessel walls. They can appear on the cheeks and nose, as well as larger areas like temples or forehead.

The Top 7 Causes and Triggers of Broken Capillaries and Spider Veins

Many different causes contribute to broken facial capillaries. Lifestyle choices, environmental factors, hormonal changes during pregnancy, and genetics can all play a role. These factors share one thing in common: something excessive occurs, and capillaries can't naturally expand and contract, leaving them dilated. Here are some common causes.

Sun Damage and Photoaging (UV Breakdown of Collagen)

Excessive sun exposure breaks down collagen and elastin, thinning the skin and weakening the walls of tiny blood vessels until they dilate and stay permanently visible. Heat and stress make the weakened blood vessels stretch out. UV rays also thin the epidermis, making dilated red and blue vessels clearly visible, commonly on the nose and cheeks.

Rosacea and Chronic Facial Inflammation

Chronic inflammation from rosacea weakens blood vessels, making their walls fragile and prone to permanent stretching. Frequent flushing triggered by heat, alcohol or spicy food forces blood vessels to rapidly expand, with inflamed vessels losing their ability to contract back to their normal size. The capillaries remain permanently open, appearing as tiny red, pink, or purple telangiectasias, not broken blood vessels.

Temperature Extremes and Weather

Temperature extremes and rapidly changing weather conditions also affect the dilation and constriction of blood vessels, rapidly weakening their walls. Hot showers, saunas and even hot sun can cause rapid dilation. Freezing wind or cold air causes constriction. Moving quickly from a freezing environment into a hot, heated room forces blood vessels to rapidly expand after constriction. This rapid stress can rupture or permanently dilate delicate capillaries. Winter is a typical time for broken capillaries to manifest. The body needs more energy during this time to regulate temperature and preserve heat, while cold weather constricts blood vessels.

Lifestyle Factors

In addition to excessive sun exposure and rapid temperature changes, the following can stress blood vessels and make them more visible.

Frequent Alcohol Consumption

Skin flushes during light to moderate alcohol consumption because vessels enlarge. Alcohol acts as a vasodilator, widening blood vessels and increasing blood pressure. Drinking too much or too frequently increases the risk of overdilation. Drinking red wine can also lead to inflammation.

Smoking

Tobacco smoke harms the circulatory system, depriving tissues of oxygen and weakening blood vessel structure.

Additional Lifestyle Factors

Some habits can lead to enlarged veins on the face:

• Exposing your face to water that is too hot
• Exposure to air pollution
• Rubbing eyes while crying
• Heavy consumption of acidic or spicy foods
• Blowing your nose frequently with too much force
• Vomiting, coughing, or sneezing

Physical Trauma and Mechanical Stress

Bruising can lead to broken capillaries and spider veins appearing on the face. Forcefully popping pimples can lead to sore spots, scarring or broken capillaries. Even home aesthetic treatments like facial steaming are unfriendly to skin cells, and seemingly innocent treatments like facial scrubs with large grains can cause physical trauma. Aggressive extraction, harsh scrubbing, or rough micro-needling places intense shear stress on surface capillaries. Invasive treatment or heavy pressure from aesthetic tools can injure superficial vascular walls.

Other causes include:

• Sustained tissue compression, such as repetitive rubbing or pressure on specific facial zones, such as the bridge of the nose from heavy eyewear
• Strong chemical peels or overuse of prescribed topical corticosteroids can thin the skin and damage surface capillaries
• Dry, dehydrated skin doesn’t retain moisture, so it has less tissue, making capillaries, fine lines, and wrinkles more visible.

Hormonal Shifts and Pregnancy

Hormonal shifts and pregnancy are prime facial telangiectasia triggers due to surging estrogen levels, a massive increase in blood volume, and the relaxing effect progesterone has on blood vessel walls.  During pregnancy, blood volume can increase by up to 50%, placing extra pressure on delicate facial capillaries. Progesterone relaxes smooth muscle tissue throughout the body, including blood vessels, making them more prone to stretching. These visible veins are usually temporary and often disappear within several months of delivery. If they persist postpartum, dermatologists can treat them with targeted therapies.

Who is at Risk for Facial Spider Veins?

Genetics and some medical conditions put you at greater risk and lead to the appearance of spider veins. These include:

• Sensitive skin or acne
• Rare conditions like Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT)
• Family members who have spider veins or broken blood vessels
• Fair skin
• Increased estrogen in pregnancy dilates blood vessels temporarily
• Medical conditions like rosacea, liver disease, scleroderma and lupus
• Increased blood pressure
• Living in an area with hot weather
• Natural aging

Can Topical Skincare Remove Broken Capillaries?

The short answer is no: topical treatments, even prescription ones, can eliminate broken capillaries once they have formed. No topical ingredient applied to the outer skin layer can physically force a stretched, structurally damaged blood vessel to collapse, repair its elastic walls, or seal itself.

However, a targeted skincare routine can play a supportive role in overall skin health by doing the following:

• Calm surface redness via anti-inflammatories like niacinamide, azelaic acid, centella asiatica (cica) and colloidal oatmeal.
• Strengthen the skin barrier through ingredients like ceramides, fatty acids and hyaluronic acid.
• Provide antioxidant protection through topical Vitamin C to protect collagen fibers from free-radical breakdown.

How to Prevent New Facial Veins From Forming

Although existing broken capillaries require professional intervention to disappear, you can proactively protect your skin and prevent new dilated vessels from developing by adopting a gentler routine. Consider these measures:

• Apply Broad-Spectrum SPF 50+ daily that contains zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Mineral formulas reflect UV rays and heat away from the skin without causing irritation.
• Switch to Ultra-Gentle Cleansing by ditching harsh brushes, coarse washcloths and physical exfoliants. Wash using your fingertips only and apply mild, fragrance-free, non-foaming cleansers. Pat your face dry with a soft towel.
• Avoid extreme thermal shock to protect your skin from drastic temperature changes. Wash your face with lukewarm water and limit time in saunas, hot tubs and steam rooms. In extreme cold or windy weather, protect your face with a soft scarf to prevent cold-induced vasodilation.
• Manage internal and dietary triggers that cause facial flushing. Allow hot soups and beverages to cool slightly before consuming and moderate alcohol intake. Keep a food journal if you suspect spicy foods or specific ingredients trigger redness.
• Treat underlying skin conditions like rosacea, eczema, or chronic inflammatory acne early. Work with a medical professional to manage flare-ups to help prevent repetitive capillary expansion.

Treatment for Facial Spider Veins

Except for those developing during pregnancy, once you experience spider veins on your face, they won't go away on their own. Fortunately, VIVAA has several effective treatment options to make spider veins disappear. When choosing a facial vein treatment option, the right choice depends on the color, size and depth of the spider vein and its location on the face. Because the face is almost constantly exposed to the sun, laser therapy is an excellent option for treating facial spider veins with a low chance of producing burns.

Common therapies to treat broken capillaries and spider veins:

• Intense Pulsed Light Therapy (IPL) – White light heats the targeted facial veins, effectively shrinking them back to normal size. IPL treatment devices have a wide footprint; this therapy effectively treats large areas like diffuse telangiectasia and rosacea.
• Transdermal Laser Therapy – This option for treating facial spider veins differs from IPL because these devices produce a single, precisely aligned wavelength. Various devices can be used for this laser therapy to target specific pigments or to treat patients with darker skin colors. The KTP laser treats very superficial bright red or bright blue veins in the top layer of the skin, while the ND:YAG is better suited for veins in deeper layers of skin.
• Sclerotherapy – This non-laser treatment is generally used for bulging leg veins but can also be used on the face. Specialists usually inject smaller amounts of sclerosing agents into affected veins to close them, which often requires multiple sessions to eliminate the affected blood vessels.

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