Are women more likely to get varicose veins?

Around half of the female population develops varicose veins in legs during their lifetimes. Let's know why are varicose veins more common in females than males and when to worry about varicose veins?

According to a study done in the American College of Phlebology, around 55% of American females get affected with this condition once in their lifetime. As per estimation, females are at four fold higher risk than males to suffer from bulging leg veins.

Although there are a lot of other factors also that determine a person’s pronity towards this disease like age, family history, and obesity. Its female predominance might be linked to certain female hormones.

Here is the reason that is responsible for putting women at high risk of developing varicose veins:

Progesterone

Women are biologically different from men in many ways. Progesterone is a hormone that is produced in the female body to guard the menstrual cycle's regularity and physical development. Unfortunately, excess of this hormone may cause varicose veins in legs by relaxing leg veins.

Pregnancy

Progesterone levels significantly rise during pregnancy. Furthermore, the blood volume circulating in her body also increases, putting more pressure on the veins. Also, there is an increase in body weight during pregnancy. However, after giving birth, varicose veins usually disappear upon the normalization of body weight, blood volume as well as progesterone levels. But the successive pregnancies can worsen such conditions.

How to prevent varicose veins common in pregnancy?

The biological and physical build of women is to support menstrual physiology and bearing pregnancies. So, nothing should be done to disturb the flow of natural hormones like progesterone to prevent and treat varicose veins in legs. However, there are many other ways that can help her in reducing its risk:

Active Lifestyle

Staying active and including walking, cycling, and swimming can help females to tone their leg muscles, thereby promoting proper blood flow in them. One should try to avoid a sedentary posture for longer periods as much as one can.

Wear Compression Stockings

Wearing strong elastic compression socks can optimize the blood flow in the limbs.

Elevate Your Legs

To ensure the flow of blood upwards by elevating your legs above your heart several times a day for at least 15 to 20 minutes can help to alleviate and relieve this condition.

Maintain Your Proper Weight

Putting off the excess weight is also very necessary to stay away from varicose veins in legs.