Varicose Veins in Legs
Some people have fragile venous valves, in these cases gravity compels large quantities of blood back down into distal parts of the vein. This pressure overloads the vein and pushes its wall outward. After overloading repeatedly, the wall lose their elasticity and turn out to be stretched and slack. Such convoluted and enlarged veins, caused by incompetent valves, are basically called as varicose veins.
Varicose veins are basically enlarged veins which are swollen and raised above the skin’s surface. They can be blue or dark purple, and look bulging and twisted. Varicose veins are usually found on the backs of the claves or on the inner part of the leg. They develop when valves in the veins that allow the blood to flow towards the heart do not work properly. As a result, blood pools in the veins and causes them to get larger.
Varicose veins are enlarged, gnarled veins. The word “varicose” is derived from the Latin word “varix” which means “twisted”. Any vein may become varicose, but the veins which are most commonly affected are those in your feet and legs. For this reason walking and standing upright increases the pressure in the veins in your lower body.
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Normally, veins in the thighs and legs have a tendency to become varicosed. Almost around 25% of women and 15% percent of men in the United States have varicose veins. The condition is generally the result of problems related to valves in the veins of the leg. When one or more of the valves fails to get closed properly, the veins carry out blood back into the leg instead of up to the heart.
As blood gets accumulated, abnormal pressures expand the superficial system of vein, causing the veins to get bulged and become visible.
In normal veins, valves in the vein continue to move blood forward towards the heart. With varicose veins, the valves do not work properly, allowing the blood to remain in the vein. Pooling of blood in a vein causes it to get enlarged. The process generally takes place in the veins of the legs, although it may take place elsewhere.
Varicose veins are most common in the thighs and legs. When you’re in the upright position, the blood in the veins of your leg should work against gravity for getting returned to your heart. To attain this, muscles of your leg squeeze the deep veins of your feet and legs. When your legs relax, the valves get closed. This prevents blood from flowing in reverse, back down the legs. The whole process of sending blood back to the heart is called as the venous pump.