Varicose veins in ankle

Varicose veins in the ankle, also known as varicose veins in the lower legs, are a very common disease of the limbs. The cause of the disease is related to long-term high pressure on the lower limbs. Varicose veins in the lower legs look like earthworms attached to our legs. The incidence of this disease will increase with age. Because of its high incidence, we must know the cause and take active precautions.

Varicose veins of the lower legs are one of the most important diseases and one of the most common vascular diseases of the limbs. Varicose veins often occur in the lower limbs.

The main cause of varicose veins is that due to the congenital weakness of the blood vessel wall membrane or maintaining the same posture for a long time with little change, blood accumulates in the lower limbs, which over time damages the venous valves and causes the venous pressure to be too high, causing the blood vessels to protrude from the skin surface.

Causes

1. Weak venous wall and valve defects: The venous wall is relatively weak and can expand under the action of venous pressure. The expansion of the valvular sinus causes the original venous valve to not close tightly, resulting in relative valve insufficiency and blood backflow. If the valve is poorly developed or missing, it cannot effectively prevent backflow and lead to disease.

2. Persistent increase in intravenous pressure: Due to the effect of gravity, the venous blood itself exerts a certain amount of pressure on the valve, which will not cause damage to it under normal circumstances. However, when the intravenous pressure continues to rise, the valve will be under excessive pressure, gradually relax, prolapse, and cause incomplete closure. This is more common in people who have to stand for long periods of time at work, do heavy physical labor, are pregnant, have chronic coughs, and have long-term constipation.

3. The second factor is age and gender: since the venous pressure in the limbs reaches its highest pressure only when the body length reaches its maximum, the body is not tall before puberty, so the caliber of the veins is smaller, which can prevent venous dilation. Therefore, although there are people with severe varicose veins before the age of 30, most of them suffer from varicose veins as they age, and the venous walls and valves gradually lose their tension, and the symptoms worsen, forcing patients to seek medical attention.

Varicose veins are more common in women, possibly because pregnancy can induce or aggravate varicose veins. However, the incidence rate in non-pregnant women is also higher than that in men (male:female=1:3). The reasons may be that women have wider pelvises, excessive curvature of the blood vessel structure, and the veins in the pelvis become more congested during menstruation, pregnancy and menopause. Another reason why varicose veins are prone to occur during pregnancy is that the tension of the superficial veins in the limbs decreases during pregnancy, making them easy to expand. This situation can be restored after delivery.