What are Varicose Veins

Varicose veins are higgledy-piggledy, dilated veins which you can often see bulging on your legs.

These happen when the valves in these veins (which stop the blood from flowing back down your legs) fail and thus allow blood to go back (or reflux) the wrong way down your leg, which causes the vein to start dilating (see the diagram below).

A - As the vein dilates the wall stretches in both width and length so that the vein becomes tortuous.

B - As the situation gets worse the veins become so dilated that large sacs form at the bends.

C - Turbulent flow occurs with areas of stagnation in extreme bends.

D - in an otherwise fast running river the vein can sometimes thrombose leading to inflammation called superficial thrombophlebitis (which is a fancy Latin way of saying "inflamed vein").

Varicose veins develop in the superficial veins of the leg (which is why you can see them so clearly) and mainly affect the long saphenous vein although it is not uncommon for the short saphenous vein to be involved as well. Read here for the full explanation on the development of varicose veins.

In most cases the veins just become increasingly unsightly. Some people get no other problems apart from the cosmetic appearance but there are many who complain of aching particularly towards the end of the day. Veins, like arteries are made of a special type of muscle called smooth muscle which is responsible for keeping the tension in the blood vessel. It is believed that it is the stretching of this muscle coat in varicose veins that accounts for the painful symptoms.
If you have any of these symptoms, you may have varicose veins.

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