Causes of Varicose veins

More precisely, varicose veins are mostly caused by a dysfunction of the venous valves structures located inside the veins that ensure blood flow always moves upward (from the legs toward the heart).

If these valves fail, what is known as reflux occurs that is, instead of flowing upward toward the heart, blood flows back down segmentally, meaning in portions along the vein’s path, due to gravity. This causes the venous return to become much slower, and as a result, blood accumulates in the veins of the legs since it cannot overcome gravity. Because of this, the veins gradually become dilated. This dysfunctional mechanism worsens with sitting, since the action of the leg muscles, as well as breathing, plays an important role in helping return blood from the feet to the heart.

Advanced age. The prevalence of varicose veins gradually increases with age. Thus, they are very uncommon in childhood, start to appear during adolescence, and are very prevalent in adulthood, and affecting around 70-80 % of elderly people.

Inherited genetically. It is usual for people who have varicose veins to have a family history. There are studies that show that the likelihood of having varicose veins, if both parents have them, is almost 90%.

Pregnancy. The compressing of the uterus and the foetus on the abdominal veins during pregnancy impedes the venous return of the legs and significantly increases the risk of having varicose veins.

Sedentarism. Walking helps the return of the blood from the legs, given that with each step the muscle contraction pumps return blood towards the heart. Thus, the sedentary lifestyle and the professions that involve many hours standing up (or sitting in a fixed position) increases the risk of having varicose veins.

Overweight. Increases the risk of having varicose veins, both due to a compressing effect on the venous return of the legs (similar to pregnancy) as well as due to its association with sedentarism.