Does My Weight Affect My Varicose Veins?

Carrying around extra fat can have a serious negative impact on your body’s processes, including the health of your veins. Excess weight is shown to contribute to leg pain and leg swelling in patients, as well as to the formation of varicose veins.

Being overweight increases a person’s risk for chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a medical condition where the veins cannot pump enough oxygen-poor blood back to the heart.  Symptoms of CVI include constant leg pain. These indicators of poor vein health can develop over a long period of time leading many patients to falsely believe they are just part of the aging process.

Veins work to re-circulate blood from your body’s tissue back to your heart and lungs. The muscles in your legs aid in this process, contracting to help pump blood upward. However, excess weight can place added stress on your veins (remember, these veins are already working against gravity) and weaken the one-way valves that prevent blood from flowing backwards. This increased pressure ultimately leads to varicose veins.

Early treatment is instrumental in preventing the progression of CVI. Even insurance companies are now recognizing how vital varicose vein removal is, and many now include the treatment of venous insufficiency as a covered benefit.

If you suffer from leg pain or leg swelling contact the venous experts at Lakeshore Veins Center. We offer a number of minimally invasive, in-office procedures to rid you of your vein pain. Call (262) 241-3999 or contact Lakeshore Veins online to learn more.