Varicose veins
PKGhatak,MD
Inside the veins, at certain intervals, there are valves. Valves prevent blood from gravitating down to the dependent parts of the body and legs. Valves break up the blood column in short segments thereby lowering the pressure within the veins. Blood flows by gravity from the head and neck region of the body to the right atrium of the heart and against gravity from areas below the heart. The pressure generated by skeletal muscle contractions and smooth muscle contractions of the vein wall creates the pressure gradient. The pressure inside the veins is very low and higher than the right atrial pressure, which is generally 1 to 3 cm of water.
You can easily see the healthy wall of veins on the back of your hands. If you follow a long vein of your forearms or legs you will notice small bulges along the walls. These are valves. They are particularly prominent in the lower legs where other veins join the main vein.
The blood tends to remain stagnant in the legs of the workers requiring standing in one spot for long hours. And blood column exerts pressure on the valves. And after many years the valves become lax and unable to hold back blood and become incompetent. These veins become tortuous and darker in color and the condition is called varicose veins. Often there is a genetic predisposition for varicosity but the precise mode of inheritance is not known.
Incompetent veins cause fatigue of the legs, may cause a sense of fullness and pain in the legs. In older people, as they lose muscle mass, the veins become easily visible and if the valves are incompetent it may lead to thinning of the overlying skin and ulcer formation. As blood remains stagnant it may clot. This is called thrombosis of veins, there are other causes of thrombosis also.
It is a good idea to remain active even if you have a job requiring standing for long hours. It is important that you walk around every so often to help blood circulate better in your legs thereby preventing varicosity.
edited 2020.
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