Health Blog

Spider veins and varicose veins are common conditions that affect many adults.

These abnormally enlarged blood vessels, which affect women more often than men, appear most often on the legs and become more prevalent with age.

Spider veins and varicose veins affect up to 50% of the adult population.

The following slideshow will highlight the important facts about spider veins and varicose veins, with accompanying pictures to better understand what they look like, what they are, and how to treat them.

What Are Spider ...

The first line of treatment for your varicose veins — those knotty, enlarged, and discolored veins caused by blood pooling in the legs — usually involves lifestyle changes and compression stockings.

But you might need a medical procedure. Your doctor may recommend this if your varicose veins cause:

• Severe pain
• Skin problems
• Blood clots

Some people also choose to have procedures to improve the looks of their legs.

Which Procedure Is Right for Me?

How will you and your doctor decide which procedure is the best choice ...

What Is Varicose Vein Stripping?

Varicose vein stripping is a surgical procedure that removes varicose veins from the legs or thighs. Varicose veins are the puffy and twisted veins that you can see under the skin. They usually have a red or bluish-purple color. Varicose veins most often appear in the legs, but they may also develop in other parts of the body.

Varicose veins form in the legs when the valves in the veins aren’t functioning correctly. Veins normally have one-way ...

What Are Varicose Veins?

Varicose veins usually announce themselves as bulging, bluish cords running just beneath the surface of your skin. They almost always affect legs and feet. Visible swollen and twisted veins — sometimes surrounded by patches of flooded capillaries known as spider veins — are considered superficial varicose veins. Although they can be painful and disfiguring, they are usually harmless. When inflamed, they become tender to the touch and can hinder circulation to the point of causing swollen ankles, ...

Spider veins are small, damaged veins that can appear on the surface of the legs or face. They are usually not painful or harmful, but some people may wish to treat them for cosmetic reasons.

Spider veins can be blue, purple, or red and may appear in the form of thin lines, webs, or branches. People sometimes also refer to them as thread veins.

A range of treatments can remove spider veins or reduce their appearance.

In this article, we discuss the causes ...

Though generally harmless, hair-thin blemishes, known as spider veins, can cause some to want to cover up even in the heat. Treating spider veins is rarely a medical necessity (though some seek treatment to relieve the aching the veins can cause), but for those who want it, spider vein-free skin is just a zap away.

No one knows why some people develop spider veins and others don’t, but genetics, the hormone estrogen and possibly the hormone progesterone are thought to play ...

Diagnosis

To diagnose varicose veins, your doctor will do a physical exam, including looking at your legs while you’re standing to check for swelling. Your doctor may also ask you to describe any pain and aching in your legs.

You also may need an ultrasound test to see if the valves in your veins are functioning normally or if there’s any evidence of a blood clot. In this noninvasive test, a technician runs a small hand-held device (transducer), about the size of ...

An estimated 25 million Americans, mostly women, suffer from varicose veins. Varicose veins are usually caused by leaky valves in veins of the leg that result in pooling of blood under pressure. As pressure builds up, the branches of the main superficial veins dilate causing bulging varicosities.

Those at high risk include pregnant women whose jobs require prolonged sitting or standing and women who are overweight. Women may find their varicose veins more of a problem when they are menstruating. In ...

Varicose veins are twisted, enlarged veins. Any superficial vein may become varicosed, but the veins most commonly affected are those in your legs. That’s because standing and walking upright increases the pressure in the veins of your lower body.

For many people, varicose veins and spider veins — a common, mild variation of varicose veins — are simply a cosmetic concern. For other people, varicose veins can cause aching pain and discomfort. Sometimes varicose veins lead to more-serious problems.

Treatment may involve ...

Varicose veins are dilated superficial veins in the lower extremities. Usually, no cause is obvious. Varicose veins are typically asymptomatic but may cause a sense of fullness, pressure, and pain or hyperesthesia in the legs. Diagnosis is by physical examination. Treatment may include compression, wound care, sclerotherapy, and surgery.

Etiology

Etiology is usually unknown, but varicose veins may result from primary venous valvular insufficiency with reflux or from primary dilation of the vein wall due to structural weakness. In some people, varicose ...