Out of sight, out of mind. Many men tend to wear pants all year long, keeping their legs out of sight. But, believe it or not, men can be affected by varicose veins just as much as women. Since men keep their legs covered, it is not as obvious that they are affected by these pesky veins. It may be their way of hiding that there could be a problem with their veins.  

How do men develop varicose veins? 

Men develop varicose veins the same way that women develop them. It all starts with weakening of the walls in the veins, inability of the valve within the vein to work properly, or both. As the vein cannot push blood appropriately back to the heart, based on the changes in the vein, the blood begins to sit within the vein, leading to an increase in pressure in the vein and a large, engorged vein that can be seen on the legs. The weakening of the vein walls and the non working valves can be attributed to different things, such as genetics, being overweight or obese, age, and standing/sitting for long periods. The only difference between men and women with developing varicose veins, is that women have different hormones and can become pregnant, which can increase the chance that they might get varicose veins.

Complications of Men's Varicose Veins

Besides being unable to get pregnant and having different sex hormones than women,

there is another common difference between men and women. This has to do with complications from varicose veins. Complications occur later in the disease state of varicose veins with rashes, poor healing wounds, and leaking of fluid from the legs. As men are usually less concerned about their varicose veins, than most women, they usually put off seeing a doctor until their are complications. For this reason, men more commonly present for initial visit with a doctor when they have advanced varicose veins with complications. This isn’t to say that women aren’t affected by complications, but rather if women waited as long as men for medical attention, they would likely have complications present as well.  

Treatment Options for Varicose Veins in Men

Treatment options may vary based upon location of varicose veins, complications, medical history, and overall state of health at first presentation to the doctor. Men and women are treated with similar procedures and also have similar outcomes from these procedures.  Just because you’re a man doesn’t mean that you should neglect your varicose veins. There are plenty of options to treat them before they become too much of a problem. 

Meet ABMS Board Certified Surgeon, Dr. Mackay

 Contact the office of Dr. Edward Mackay, a board certified vascular surgeon providing services to patients in the Tampa area.