Varicose veins are not only caused by standing or sitting for too long, but also from excessive exercise, bad habits and being overweight, a physician said yesterday, adding that changing daily habits is a better form of prevention than wearing compression stockings.
Lee Chiu-yang (李秋陽), a physician at Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, said varicose veins occur when veins, particularly those in the legs, lose elasticity over time or as a result of venous valve incompetence — the failure of leg vein valves to hold blood against gravity.
Varicose veins are more often seen in women than men, with many people first noticing twisted or enlarged veins in their legs during their 30s or 40s, Lee said.
“While the common reason for women is standing or sitting too long, the common reason it occurs in men is from carrying too much weight or bad exercise habits,” he said.
Giving a couple of examples, Lee said a woman in her 20s was hospitalized for trying to improve her swollen legs by doing an intensive spin bike workout for an hour, and a man in his early 20s was diagnosed with varicose veins about two months after he started a regular weight-lifting routine that was too intense for his fitness level.
“Normal venous pressure values are commonly between 3mm of mercury (mmHg) — a measure of blood pressure — and 5mmHg, and elevated pressure can lead to varicose veins and swollen legs,” Lee said, adding that wearing compression stockings can help relieve the symptoms by improving blood flow.
He said that compression stockings should gradually reduce from the highest compression at the smallest part of the ankle to a lower compression just below the knee.
Wu Cheng-ning (吳正寧), section head of the Food and Drug Administration’s Division of Medical Devices and Cosmetics, said consumers should ask their doctors which compression level is suitable for their legs before purchasing compression stockings.
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