Heredity is the major factor in varicose veins.
People who are obese or women with multiple pregnancies are particularly susceptible because the extra weight puts strain on the veins. Women are more prone to develop varicose veins than men, in part because female hormones tend to relax vein walls and contribute to development of venous reflux.
Your lifestyle can also affect your odds of developing varicose veins. People whose career requires standing for long periods of time have a greater chance of developing venous disease. This includes:
- nurses
- teachers
- waitresses
- flight attendants,
- other service personnel
- people who do heavy lifting
Once varicose veins – or venous reflux disease – appear, the condition does not go away by itself. The condition is progressive and worsens with time if not treated. In past years, the treatment option was surgical – vein stripping – which required cutting out the diseased veins. Fortunately, medical advances now offer a relatively painless, minimally invasive technique to treat varicose veins in the outpatient setting.
You no longer have to live with unsightly swollen veins and the associated pain and tired legs associated with them.