When someone has varicose veins Melbourne, it means that they have a condition characterised by veins that are unusually large and twisted. This ailment normally affects the legs because when you are standing or walking, there is increased pressure in the lower body. Although in certain people this condition can just bother them because of the way the veins appear, others actually experience discomfort and pain. If you have varicose veins Melbourne has specialist doctors who can assist you.
Causes
The condition can be caused by injured or weak valves. In normal circumstances, the function of the arteries is to transport blood from the heart to the tissues in the body, the veins then carry blood from other parts of the body back to the heart; allowing the blood to be recirculated. When it comes to the lower part of the body, the legs, veins in that area have to literally go against gravity in order to return blood all the way to your heart.
There are muscle contractions that take place in the lower part of the legs which work in the same way as pumps, as well as stretchy vein walls that assist to push blood back to the heart. Your veins have small valves which open when blood flows to the heart and they close stopping blood from moving backward. Sometimes the valves can be injured or feeble and this can cause blood to go backward and gather in the vein, leading to the twisting and widening of the veins.
What are the risk factors?
There are certain risk factors that are known to increase your chances of having this condition. The first one is your age; as you age the risk increases. This is because as we get older, the valves in our veins naturally go through wear and tear. At some point, the weak valves will allow some of the blood to flow back and gather in your veins. The other factor is sex; females are at a higher risk to develop the disease due to factors such as hormonal changes as a result of pregnancy and menopause.
The reason for this is that their hormones can sometimes cause the vein walls to relax. Also, hormone treatments in the form of birth control pills are also known to put you at a higher risk. Other common risk factors include family history, obesity and sitting or standing for extended periods of time.
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