As with your weight and your mate, when it comes to skin imperfections, you have two choices: You can learn to live with them or you can try to make a change.

More than 80 percent of women have spider veins, stretch marks, cellulite or scars, according to Tina Alster, a dermatologist in Washington. If you're among them and feel fine about it, well, don't give these life markers a second thought. But, for those who aren't quite there yet, options exist.

Top dermatologists and plastic surgeons explain which treatments work and which are too good to be true. Those that offer real results generally aren't cheap, but one thing is for sure: Using them will be easier than changing your weight or your significant other.

Spider veins

If the valves inside your blood vessels become weak (whether from age or genetic predisposition) and are unable to pump blood back to your heart efficiently, "the blood pools and causes the veins to enlarge," says Robert J. Min, chair of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. That causes capillaries close to the skin's surface to show up as little red squiggles, most commonly on the legs.

What works

Sclerotherapy: Using a tiny needle, a doctor injects the spider veins with a medicated solution that "causes them to collapse and permanently disappear," says Fredric Brandt, a dermatologist in Miami and New York. You'll probably need two to three sessions to eradicate a spider vein fully. Cost: $200 and up per treatment.

Vascular laser: "The blood inside the veins absorbs the wavelength from this laser, creating heat, which contracts the veins," says Richard G. Glogau, a clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco. Very small spider veins benefit most; you'll need several sessions to see a difference. Cost: $200 and up per treatment.

What doesn't work: Keeping your legs uncrossed. (Crossing them is said to cause spider veins.)

Quick cover-up: Neutralize redness with yellow-based body makeup. Set with translucent powder to keep it in place (and off your clothes).

Stretch marks

When skin gets stretched too fast, as it can when you gain weight quickly, such as during pregnancy, or if you went through a growth spurt as a teenager, "the collagen and elastin fibers in the dermis rupture," says Glogau.

The result is scars deep within the skin — stretch marks. New ones are red or dark brown, because the skin becomes inflamed when the fibers break. (You might also notice a change in texture, as if your skin has little divots in it.) With time, most stretch marks lighten in color.

What works

Pulse dye laser (for newer stretch marks): The light from this laser is absorbed by the pigment in the irritated area, which heats the blood vessels and makes the vessel walls collapse, says David Goldberg, a dermatologist with practices in New York, New Jersey and Florida. The color is reduced significantly, so marks are much less obvious. (But divoting will still be apparent.) You'll need about five treatments, spaced one month apart. Cost: $500 to $800 per treatment, depending on the size of the affected area.

Excimer laser (for older marks): The beam "increases pigment production, so eventually the silver or white lines become the color of the rest of your skin," says Goldberg. This type of laser requires 10 to 20 treatments, spaced about two weeks apart. Cost: $200 to $700 per treatment.

What doesn't work: Over-the-counter stretch-mark creams, which claim to rebuild collagen but don't.

Quick cover-up: A self-tanner helps minimize the look of new and older marks. For the most even coverage, exfoliate the area before applying.

Cellulite

Those bumps and dimples are all about genetics (thanks, Mom and Dad!). Cellulite is nothing more than regular fat. Excess weight can cause cellulite to become more prominent, but even thin people can have it.

What works

Endermologie: A technician runs a vacuum-like suction tube over your skin and follows that with a heavy-duty massaging roller. The bands under the skin are stimulated and stretched temporarily, causing swelling and thickening, which plumps the skin so dimples appear smoother. You'll need a treatment every eight weeks. Cost: $150 and up per session.

Cellulite creams and gels: In the short term, creams and gels can make cellulite appear less obvious. You need to apply daily, since you remove the product — and its effects — when you shower. Cost: From $10 at drugstores to more than $100 at department stores and spas.

What doesn't work: Mesotherapy, in which a doctor injects saline or some other liquid into the skin to disperse fat. Liposuction is a bust, too: It sucks out fat but not the bands of tissue that create the bumpy appearance.

Quick cover-up: Try a body bronzer or a tinted self-tanner, even on darker skin, to visually smooth out the look of dimples.

Scars

As skin heals from a wound, it can produce too much collagen, and a scar forms. The tendency to scar is genetic, so there's not much you can do to prevent scars, though you can minimize the effects.

Hypertrophic scars, the most common kind, are raised but don't extend past the borders of the original wound. Keloids are raised but grow beyond the wound's edges; people of African descent most often suffer from them. Depressed scars, like those from acne, are exactly that — indented.

What works

Silicone products: A sheet of silicone placed over a hypertrophic or keloid scar (after the wound has healed) or a cream, such as Scar Fade, rubbed in daily, "can make scars stop overproducing collagen and become permanently flatter," says Foad Nahai, president of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Sold over the counter, silicone products, which must be used consistently for several months, work on new and old scars. Cost: About $20 for sheets; about $10 for Scar Fade.

Fraxel laser: Best for depressed scars, this laser targets pinpoint-wide areas of skin, resurfacing the top and boosting collagen production underneath. After several sessions, indented scars should be leveled off. Cost: $500 and up per treatment.

What doesn't work: Rubbing in vitamin E oil.

Quick cover-up: Dab on a creamy, pigment-rich concealer that matches your skin and pat it into the scar to blend the edges. Brush on a bit of translucent powder to set the concealer.