Health Tip: Risk Factors for Varicose Veins

(HealthDay News) -- Varicose veins are swollen, bulging and often painful veins that tend to occur in the legs.

Are you more likely than the average person to develop them? The womenshealth.gov website mentions these risk factors:

• Aging, due to declining function of vascular valves.
• Having a family history of varicose veins.
• Undergoing hormonal changes due to pregnancy, puberty or menopause.
• Being pregnant.
• Being overweight or obese.
• Being too sedentary.
• Exposing skin to the sun.