Health_What Are the Causes of Varicose Veins?

By Cindi Pearce, eHow Contributor

Function

• Veins pump blood back to the heart after it's traveled through the body. Veins have valves that function as one-way flaps. The valves keep blood from flowing back as the blood moves toward the heart. If a valve becomes frail, blood can leak back into the vein and collect there. When this occurs, it is dubbed venous insufficiency. When blood pools, this makes the vein bigger and that vein becomes varicose.

Factors

• One factors that can put you at risk for varicose veins is heredity. If you stand for long periods of time, such as hair stylists do, you may get varicose veins. A leg injury and obesity can both weaken the valves in the veins, resulting in varicose veins. Hormonal changes are also linked to the appearance of varicose veins. These changes occur during puberty and menopause, as well as pregnancy. If you take medication that contains estrogen and progesterone, such as the birth control pill or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) this, too, can contribute to varicose and spider veins.

  When varicose veins occur in young women, they are frequently the outcome of pregnancy. During pregnancy, the amount of blood in the woman's body increases significantly. According to the Mayo Clinic, the increased blood in a woman's body does not, unfortunately, apply to her legs because the blood flow decreases from her legs to her pelvis during pregnancy. In addition, the growing uterus can put pressure on veins, which makes them varicose.

  Location

  • Some varicose veins are located close to the surface of the skin while others are deeper. When a varicose vein appears deep within the skin, this can cause the skin above it to swell and to become hard and dark in color. Varicose veins commonly pop up in the legs because the veins there have the most grueling job when it comes to carrying blood back to the heart. These veins deal with a lot of pressure being in the lower part of the body, and this pressure may be more than the valves can handle. Combine the pressure of body weight and blood with the force of gravity and the distance from the heart to get an idea why the veins in your legs work the hardest.

  Influences

  • According to the Mayo Clinic, with age, veins can lose their suppleness, which causes them to stretch, which can lead to frailness. When a varicose vein appears because the veins and valves can't get the blood to flow upward, the veins in your legs will turn blue because of the presence of de-oxygenated blood.

  Possible Outcomes

  • The Cleveland Clinic notes that some people aren't bothered by their varicose veins, whereas others are. When varicose veins appear, an individual may notice that the vein itches and/or there is soreness behind the knee. The legs may feel heavy or tired and throb, tingle or burn. The skin may become discolored and turn brown around the ankles. Your legs may swell, ache and cramp.             Source:: http://www.ehow.com/about_5544209_causes-varicose-veins.html