What causes varicose veins in pregnancy?
During pregnancy, your blood volume increases. With this increased blood comes increased pressure on your veins. Think of a hose. When you up the amount of water, you increase the pressure of the water coming out. During pregnancy, the pressure in the upper extremities doesn’t change significantly. However, there is an increase in pressure on the lower extremities. As the uterus expands this adds even more pressure on your veins. Varicose veins are simply enlarged, dilated veins.
