|
Arteries carry blood from
your heart to your extremities (hands, feet, head, skin) is
delivering oxygen deep in the tissue. Veins then return the
"de-oxygenated" blood (now bluish in color) to your heart to be
re-circulated. Nearly 75% of the body's blood is found in your lower
limb (legs). To return this blood to the heart, your leg veins must
work against gravity. Muscles in the leg squeeze the deep veins to
help push blood forward. Small, one-way valves in the veins open to
allow blood to flow upward, towards the heart, and then close to
prevent it from flowing backwards. While deep veins are assisted in
their efforts by muscles, a second type of leg vein, lying outside
the muscle layer and closer to the skin (superficial veins) are not.
The largest superficial
vein is called the Great Saphenous Vein (GSV), which begins at the
ankle and ends at the groin.
Varicose
veins occur when the valves in the superficial veins
malfunction.
The vein walls can loose
elasticity (due to age or hormones) causing them to stretch. When
this occurs, the valve may be unable to close, allowing blood that
should be moving towards the heart to flow backward (called venous
reflux). Blood collects in your lower veins causing them to enlarge
and become varicose.
In this manner, faulty valves high on the leg
may cause varicose vein lower down (e.g., mid or lower
leg).
For More Information on Vein Treatments
|
