The Way Veins Work

The Way Veins Work

Veins are part of your circulation. When you stand, veins work against gravity to return blood back to the heart. The muscles of the leg help pump blood back to the heart, while valves within the vein keep the blood from flowing back down toward the feet.

There are different types of veins in your leg:

• Deep veins - veins located deep in the leg, they run next to the arteries. They are responsible for returning 90-95% of venous blood from the leg back to the heart.
• Superficial veins - these veins include the saphenous veins and their branches, reticular veins which are close to the skin and spider veins which are tiny weblike veins in the skin.
• Perforating veins - these veins connect the deep and superficial veins.
• Spider and Varicose Veins - occur when blood returningto the heart pools inside a vein causing congestion and enlargement of the vein.