Varicose veins are swollen veins. They are pale and blue visible through the skin. Any vein in your body can become varicose. The veins in the legs particularly the calf are most commonly affected. Varicose vein is a common condition affecting both and women.
Causes of Varicose Veins
Blood travels around the body through blood vessels. Arteries carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body and veins return blood to the heart. When your leg muscles moves, they squeeze the leg veins and helps to push the blood upwards to your heart. Inside the large veins of your body are one way valves which stop blood flowing backward in wrong direction. In varicose veins the walls of the vein stretch and become less flexible which weakens the valves and stops them from working properly. In such cases the blood leads backwards and builds up in the veins causing it to swell. The reason why the wall swells and stretches is not completely understood.
Risk factors of varicose veins
The most common risk factors of varicose veins are:
• Obesity
• Occupation that involves prolonged standing
• Pregnancy
If the varicose veins cause complications such as inflammation, bleeding, venous eczema and ulcekcrr consult the doctor. The doctor may recommend surgery. The most common type d surgery is ligation and stripping. In ligation and stripping the surgeon make a cut near the groin at the top end of the varicose veins. Another cut is made near the knee or ankle at the end of varicose vein. The vein is cut and tied near the groin. A thin wire is then inserted through the vein and the vein itself is carefully pulled out from the lower cut near the knee. Removal of varicose vein does not affect the blood flow since other veins take over their role. Even after surgical treatment there is a risk that varicose vein may come back. The other treatment includes injection of chemical in the affected vein that helps in sealing of the vein. Laser and radiofrequency ablation is also used for treating varicose veins.
