It’s not fair, but it’s true. While anyone can end up with embarrassing bulging, discolored leg veins, women are two to three times more likely to get varicose veins than men.
Kishore K. Arcot, MD, FACC, and our Memphis Vein Center team specialize in helping women prevent varicose veins (whenever possible) and have years of experience performing minimally invasive treatments that eliminate gnarled veins.
Here, we explain why women have a better chance of developing varicose veins.
The hormones estrogen and progesterone do more than regulate your reproductive system. They’re also essential for keeping your blood vessels healthy and functioning. When one or both hormones get too low or high, your veins suffer the consequences.
Unfortunately, women can’t sidestep natural hormonal swings, and many also face another source of hormone changes: birth control pills.
These are the four primary reasons women are more likely to have varicose veins.
Progesterone levels rise in the middle of each monthly cycle. Though the increase is temporary (and crucial for regular menstrual cycles), it can still have a cumulative and long-lasting effect on your veins.
Progesterone relaxes the vein walls and the valves inside the vein, allowing the vessels to expand and weakening the valves that keep blood flowing in one direction (up your legs toward your heart).
High progesterone levels can rapidly lead to dysfunctional valves. Then, blood flows in the wrong direction (down the leg) and accumulates in the vein, causing engorged, bulging varicose veins.
Birth control pills often contain a combination of estrogen and progesterone that increases your chances of varicose veins by affecting blood flow and vein health.
Menopause raises the risk because women need estrogen and progesterone to support healthy veins. Without these hormones, the vein walls weaken and the valves can’t work because they lose strength and elasticity.
Pregnancy makes women especially vulnerable to developing varicose veins because their bodies go through three dramatic changes.
The placenta produces extra progesterone, flooding your body with 10 times more than usual, the amount needed to support a healthy pregnancy and prevent preterm labor. As a result, your vein walls and valves weaken rapidly.
Weakened valves alone can cause varicose veins, but your risk increases because of changes in blood volume and the baby’s weight.
Blood volume significantly increases during pregnancy. The extra blood is essential for the baby, but it further enlarges the leg veins, stretching the valves and leading to the engorgement of varicose veins.
The baby’s increasing weight puts pressure on the veins as they leave your legs and travel through the abdomen. The pressure limits circulation, forcing more blood to build up in the lower leg veins.
If you develop varicose veins for the first time during pregnancy, they may disappear in the months after having your baby. But whether the veins improve or not depends on the extent of the vein and valve damage.
Wearing high heels isn’t the main reason women are more likely to have varicose veins, but it contributes to the problem. Here’s why.
The rhythmic movement of leg muscles, the way they naturally tighten and relax as you walk, pushes blood up your leg veins.
When you’re in high heels, the calf muscles stay tight and relax less, which limits the pumping action needed to move blood through the veins. Then, blood has a better chance of pooling in the vein and weakening the valves, increasing the risk of varicose veins.
The same challenge occurs any time your leg muscle activity is limited, a problem you may face if you sit or stand for prolonged periods or must stay in bed during an illness or after surgery.
We specialize in several in-office treatments that safely eliminate varicose veins, including advanced minimally invasive treatments such as endovenous laser ablation (EVLT), ClariVein®, and sclerotherapy.
Call us at Memphis Vein Center today in Memphis, Tennessee, or request an appointment online to learn about the best treatment for your varicose veins.
