Symptoms

You may not have symptoms with varicose veins. Most people identify varicose veins by the appearance of twisted, swollen, bluish veins just beneath the skin.

If you have symptoms of varicose veins, they tend to be mild and may include:

• A dull ache, burning, or heaviness in the legs. These symptoms may be more noticeable late in the day or after you have been sitting or standing for a long time.
• Mild swelling, usually involving the feet and ankles only.
• Itching skin over the varicose vein.

More severe symptoms or complications include:

• A buildup of fluid and swelling in the leg.
• Significant swelling and calf pain after sitting or standing for a long time.
• Skin color changes (stasis pigmentation) around the ankles and lower legs.
• Dry, stretched, swollen, itching, or scaling skin.
• Superficial thrombophlebitis (when a blood clot and inflammation develop in a small vein near the surface of the skin).
• Open sores (ulcerations).
• Bleeding and/or bruising after a minor injury.

Symptoms of varicose veins may become more severe a few days before and during a woman's menstrual period.

What Happens

Most varicose veins are not a serious medical problem, but they sometimes can lead to complications.

Complications can include:

• Bleeding from a varicose vein, which may occur without an injury or after an injury to the thin skin over the varicose vein. Bleeding can be heavy, but it can be controlled by elevating the leg and applying pressure to the area that is bleeding.
• Blood clots or inflammation (superficial thrombophlebitis), when a blood clot and inflammation develop in a small vein near the surface of the skin. Unlike blood clots in deep veins, clots in superficial veins rarely travel to the heart or lungs, where they could cause serious blockages.
• Dry, stretched, swollen, itching, or scaling skin.
• Thin, fragile, easily injured skin at or above the ankle.
• Open sores (ulcers), usually near the ankles.
• Skin color changes (stasis pigmentation) around the ankles and lower legs.
• Fungal and bacterial infections, which may arise from skin problems resulting from fluid buildup (edema) in the leg and increased risk of tissue infection (cellulitis).

Varicose veins most often are a result of problems in the superficial veins just under the skin. But they can happen along with problems or disease in the deep veins and perforating veins, which connect the deep and the superficial veins. Complications are much more common when they are caused by or linked with these deeper veins.