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What can I do about brol~en capillaries on my face?

CAPILLARIES, which are most common in ex-tremely fair-skinned people, can

be caused by trauma to the skin, such as sun exposure, extremes of temperature, excessive scrubbing or squeezing. "To minimize the problem, your first line of defense should be a sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher," says New York City dermatol-ogist Alan Kling, M.D. "Alcohol, caf-feine and spicy foods won't cause broken capillaries," Dr. Alan Kling adds, "but these stimu-lants will dilate the capillaries and make them appear more prominent."

If you decide to have the capillaries removed, there are three options: elec-trodesiccation, sclerotherapy and laser treatment. Which therapy you choose will be dictated by the capillaries' num-ber and size. Recovery time varies from one to two weeks depending on the area

treated. A slight risk of scarring and/or pigmentary change is associated with all removal methods.

Electrodesiccation, the most tradition-al method, destroys the vessel with a tiny needle. It costs $90 to $150 per session. "Electrodesiccation is best for treating vessels that are delicate and close to the surface," says Los Angeles dermatologist Adrianna Scheibner, M.D. "It may re-quire local anesthesia if there are a lot of broken capillaries. "

Sclerotherapy, which involves an in-jection of a saline solution into the ves-sel to collapse it, is best for large ves-sels (one reason it's commonly used on the legs) and costs about the same as electrodesiccation.

Laser treatment is often used for ves-sels that have resisted other methods. It costs about $200 to $250 per session.