Venous Reflux Disease - A Major Cause of Varicose Veins

Venous Reflux Disease - A Major Cause of Varicose Veins

It is estimated that more than 25 million people in the United States have varicose veins. Although most people tend to blame them on long hours standing on their feet or being overweight and these conditions do raise the risks for developing varicose veins, there is an underlying cause that most people are not familiar with. This is known as venous reflux disease.

What Is Venous Reflux Disease?

Venous reflux disease is a circulatory disease that affects the lower extremities causing blood to not flow properly through the veins. This condition affects the tiny valves within veins that normally open to allow blood to flow through them and back to the heart and then close to stop blood flow. The calf muscles of the legs work as pumps, pushing the blood through the veins, while the valves open and close. Venous reflux disease affects these valves, causing them to not open properly, which results in blood accumulating in the veins, causing them to swell and protrude, also known as varicose veins. Venous reflux disease is progressive and can significantly affect the circulatory system causing serious problems over time.

How Common Is This Disease?

Venous reflux disease is estimated to affect ten times as many people as peripheral arterial disease does. Because most people tend to think of varicose veins as just a cosmetic problem and people are not aware of this disease as being progressive, many people simply live with the varicose veins although they do experience pain, swelling and skin changes. Some people with this disease often miss work due to the symptoms, especially those who are required to stand for long periods.

Causes and Risk Factors

Venous reflux disease can develop from a number of causes. These include blood clots, hereditary causes where the individual is born with weak vein valves, increases in pressure on the veins of the legs, which can be associated with many different conditions and varicose veins. Factors that can increase the risk of developing venous reflux disease include age, obesity, inactivity, gender, smoking, chronic constipation, family history of varicose veins or blood clots, pregnancy, wearing tight clothing such as belts or girdles and standing or sitting for prolonged periods.

Symptoms

Early symptoms of venous reflux disease include pain and achy legs, weak and tired legs, itching or burning of skin, swelling of the legs and ankles, changes in skin texture and colour, open wounds and varicose veins. As the disease progresses, the swelling that occurs will cause fluid to build up in the interstitial and lymphatic spaces of the legs. This will appear as skin pigmentation changes and severe pain in the ankle and calf. At this stage of the disease, both the superficial veins and deep veins are affected. If left untreated venous ulcers will appear, indicating that the disease has severely progressed.

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