Elderly people and people who spend a great deal of time on their feet sometimes develop varicose veins. You may have noticed them on people who have this condition; the veins are swollen, twisted, and quite blue.

Varicose veins are veins that have lost their elasticity, a loss which causes them to swell and look twisted. The swelling occurs because the weakened walls of the veins can no longer withstand the pressure of the blood in the veins.

Imagine that the veins are simply continuous tubes running from the legs to the heart. When a person stands up, the weight of the column of blood in the veins presses out on the walls of the veins. Now, in normal veins, there are valves which prevent the full weight of the blood from causing pressure on the veins in the leg. But once a vein has lost its elasticity, it becomes distended or spread out. The walls of the vein don’t hold “tightly” any more. When this happens, the valves can’t close completely and so they can’t function properly.

The result is that the weight of the blood in that vein presses out on the walls of the vein, and this causes them to swell out even more. Since our veins are distended a little bit anyway when we stand, the condition may not be noticed when it first appears.

Often, the change in the veins takes place over a long period of time. A person may first notice it when he has a sensation of heaviness or tiredness in the legs. He may develop cramps in his legs at night. He may have a dull ache in the feet and legs, and the ankles may swell up more than usual after a day’s work. When this is accompanied by the appearance of enlarged and twisted veins, then it’s a sign that a person probably has varicose veins.

There are many ways of treating varicose veins. In some cases, all that’s needed is time spent keeping the legs above the heart level to permit the veins to empty more easily. In other cases, injections are given to “harden” the veins. And in severe cases, it may be necessary to remove portions of a vein.