Why do I Have Varicose Veins?
Arteries carry oxygen loaded blood away from your heart lungs while veins take carbon dioxide back for recycling.
For the most part, your circulatory system runs smoothly but because the veins below your heart especially the ones in your legs have to work against gravity
sometimes things can go wrong.
What Causes Varicose Veins
Changes, like getting older or gaining extra weight, can make blood pool up and form lumpy varicose veins.
Veins have a bunch of one-way valves to make sure blood flows toward the heart without backtracking but there are a lot of ways these valves can stop working.
One is age as you get older your muscle fibers get thinner and weaker so the vein valves can't open and shut as smoothly anymore.
Malfunctioning valves can also be hereditary so genetics might be a factor.
Thirdly obesity can make you more prone to these bulging blood vessels that's because more body weight means more pressure on your legs and Higher blood pressure in your veins called venous hypertension.
Compared to arteries vein walls are relatively thin so higher blood pressure can make your veins balloon out and keep the valves from closing properly.
Some studies have found that varicose veins have more structural proteins like collagen and elastin the normal vein.
As your body tries to handle the extra stress of high blood pressure your veins swell up as an intentional biological response.
And lastly pregnancy can also cause varicose vein expectant mothers to carry around extra blood to support a fetus and the cocktail of pregnancy hormones can relax the walls of their blood vessels which makes veins bulge out more easily.
For most people, varicose veins are just a cosmetic problem but for some, they can be painful health issues.
Varicose Veins Treatment
To treat varicose veins doctors might suggest using compression clothing to help squeeze your legs like a tube of toothpaste to help your veins pump blood
to your heart more easily.
If that doesn't work some doctors might use a laser treatment or sclerotherapy where they inject a salt solution to irritate the vein so your body seals it off.
Because you have lots of blood vessels your body can handle a couple of superficial veins scarring over.
In the long run, your best bet to prevent varicose veins is to remember to move around rather than sitting or standing still for hours to help your veins do what they do best.
