Varicose Veins

Varicose Veins Causes: An Overview

You should not confuse varicose veins with the spider veins. Spider veins are smaller than the varicose veins. These are blue or red in color. Varicose veins are unattractive, distended, bulging blue veins that can be very painful. They appear mainly around the legs. Therefore, this is a painful condition as varicose veins causes a lot of discomfort.

There are many causes of this condition but it is really hard to pinpoint the accurate reason behind it. Obesity is one of the most common reasons. This is because of the additional weight stress that is being put on the legs constantly. Water retention is caused by utilizing large quantity of salt in your diet. This may add weight to your body and thus put more pressure on your legs leading to development of varicose veins.

Varicose veins are hereditary so if someone in your family suffers from this condition, there is a chance that you are likely to develop the same. In fact, over exposure to the sun can cause varicose veins to form especially in the facial region. Some medical conditions such as blood clothing, thrombosis, or valve malfunctioning also cause varicose veins. These conditions should be treated immediately to prevent more complicated problems in the future.

According to many theories, damaged valves are the most common reason behind the varicose veins. This is because the valves prevent backward flow of blood within the vein. They keep the blood in the vein moving towards the heart. Some experts believed that some inherited problem causes malfunctioning of the valves, while there are others who believe that certain people are born with abnormalities of the vein wall.

Therefore, when a person stands with the poorly functioning valves, then the blood actually flows in the reverse direction and flows down the superficial veins, when it should be flowing up, towards the heart.

When the muscles around the deep veins contract, then the deeper veins get empty and a pressure is built up. This pressure causes more blood to flow in the wrong direction from the deep to the superficial veins through the faulty valves in the perforator veins. Thus, this leads top pressure in the superficial veins and causes varicosities.

Some of the other causes which aggravate the condition are as follows:

Pregnancy- Pregnancy is related to increment in blood volume. The weight of growing uterus puts extra pressure on the legs. This affects the estrogen hormones and progesterone thus contributing to the development of varicose veins during pregnancy.

Prolonged standing- It is best to avoid prolonged standing for those who suffer from varicose veins.

Obesity- The best thing to do is cut down on fried food, junk food and consume only nutrient-rich food.

Prior surgery or trauma to the leg- The consultation with a doctor would help you understand more detailed preventive measure to tackle this.

Age- Most elderly individuals show this kind of condition.

So these are some of the varicose vein causes which may lead to painful condition or adversely affect the existing varicose condition by leading to some other serious complications.