Medical Information
Varicose Veins – Why Do We Get Them?
Arteries carry blood away from the
heart, and veins carry blood back to the heart.
The pressure in the arteries is high,
and the pressure in the veins is low.
When we stand, the blood in our legs
must flow back to the heart through the veins against the force of gravity.
This causes pressure to build up in the veins.
To overcome this problem, our leg muscles
act as pumps. The veins have one-way valves, and as the leg muscles pump blood
back up toward the heart, the one-way valves prevent blood from flowing back down
into our legs.
However, sometimes the valves
malfunction. The vein wall begins to weaken and the valves cannot
close. When this happens, blood can flow backward and remain in the veins
of lower legs. As blood continues to pool in the veins over time, they
enlarge and become varicose.
Factors that increase the risk of developing venous disorders:
- Age: Varicose veins usually appear between the ages of 30 to 70 and get progressively worse over time.
- Gender: Women are twice as likely as men to develop this condition. Hormonal changes and weight gain during pregnancy, premenstruation, menopause, and using oral contraceptives may be contributing factors. Also, female hormones tend to relax the vein walls.
- Heredity: There’s a greater chance of developing varicose veins if others in your family have had them.
- Obesity: Being overweight puts added pressure on the veins.
- Standing or sitting in the same position for long periods: Blood doesn’t circulate as well when a person remains in the same position for a long time. Long airplane flights, particularly in economy class where less movement is possible, can contribute to causing blood clots.
If your patients are subject to any of these factors, and they don’t yet have venous disorders, they should consider themselves lucky. Advise them not to tempt fate. Patients who fall into the above categories are twice as likely to develop venous disorders as those who don’t.
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