Link Between Leg Heaviness and Your Veins

One of the most common symptoms of venous reflux disease is a feeling of leg heaviness. Venous reflux disease refers to ‘leaky’ vein valves in the leg.  Healthy veins return blood flow from the legs to the heart. When the valves are weak and leaky, blood will backflow or ‘reflux’ and pool in the leg veins, instead of returning up toward the heart.  This increases the pressure in your legs, giving you that tired, heavy feeling. Leg heaviness tends to worsen throughout the day, especially after long periods of standing.  You may notice that elevating your legs or using compression stockings reduce the symptoms of leg heaviness. Leg tiredness, fatigue, ankle swelling are other common symptoms of venous reflux disease.

image of varicose veins

Varicose veins most frequently cause the legs to become heavy, achy and tired. But, these symptoms can be present even in the absence of varicose veins. Venous insufficiency, the underlying cause for varicose veins can cause leg heaviness, tiredness and swelling even before bulging veins are visible.