The developing pregnancy causes a number of physiological changes in a woman’s body which impairs venous blood from getting back up the leg and returning back to the heart.
As the baby grows inside the womb increasing compression begins to affect the large pelvic veins causing back pressure on the leg veins.  Also hormonal influences from the high levels of both oestrogen and progesterone cause changes in the elasticity of the vein walls making them more floppy and dilated. This has the effect of making the small valves inside the veins less efficient because the valve edges no longer so easily reach across to touch one another so as to prevent back flow of blood down the leg.  Another profound effect of pregnancy is the large increase in blood volume in a woman close to term. Blood volume usually increases by about 40% and this will also aggravate the tendency for pooling of excessive blood in the legs.

Unfortunately there isn't much that can be done to prevent varicose veins occurring. However gentle exercise such as swimming or walking, avoidance of excessive weight gain, not sitting or standing for long periods of time and wearing comfortable clothing and flat shoes may alleviate some of the discomfort associated with varicose veins and generally promote positive pregnancy health.

It is appropriate to treat varicose veins prior to pregnancy and between pregnancies but not during pregnancy (except in some unusual circumstances).

If you experience varicose veins during pregnancy the new generation of light weight compression stockings will reduce lower leg and ankle swelling due to pooling of blood.  Appropriately fitted compression stockings will also minimize the risk of developing blood clots in your leg.

The Leg Vein Doctor stocks a broad range of sizes and colours of compression stockings and we will be able to properly fit them for you. During any consultation a full ultrasound assessment of your legs will be undertaken to check for any underlying issues. This examination will provide mapping of your veins should you choose to have further pregnancies or even consider treating your veins in the future. 

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About 25% of people presenting for treatment of telangiectasia or spider veins on their legs will have incompetence of deeper veins.  Proceeding with treatment of surface veins before treating deeper incompetent veins increases the chance of a poor outcome and raises the risk of complications such as post sclerotic pigmentation and matting. Therefore a duplex ultrasound scan of the superficial and deep veins of the leg is best practice in the treatment of leg vein telangiectasia.

 If you are considering treatment of spider veins please ensure your doctor undertakes a thorough ultrasound assessment before proceeding to treatment. Dr Kemp has been certified by the University of Sydney to perform such venous ultrasound examinations.

Thibault P, Bray A, Wlodarczyk J, Lewis J: Cosmetic leg veins: evaluation using duplex venous imaging, J Dermatol Surg Oncol 16:612, 1990