In the 3rd video in this series discussing varicose veins and pregnancy, I answer a question women ask, "Will my varicose veins will go away after my pregnancy is over?" With pregnancy, your body's response is to accommodate an increased blood flow for the baby by expanding the veins. A common side effect of this can be leg pain and swelling, and the appearance of ugly bulging varicose veins. It is a remarkable thing, to bear a child, and women are proud of the experience - even the "battle scars" of pregnancy. Most women hope that, once the baby is born, the leg veins return to their normal state.
The answer to that question is that they will improve but they will not completely go away. It is also likely that they will worsen both over time, especially during subsequent pregnancies. Here's why:
Pregnancy hormones, estrogen and progesterone, are designed to increase blood flow to the placenta and the baby. As blood volume increases, the blood vessels have to enlarge to accommodate the increase. As the pregnancy progresses and the baby grows, the hormones increase and the veins gradually get bigger and bigger. As the veins enlarge, they distend and widen. This pushes the valves in the veins apart. These valves are designed to prevent the backflow of blood as the heart pumps it from the legs back to the heart. With pregnancy, the veins can become wide enough so that the vein valves no longer touch. This is called vein reflux.
With vein reflux, blood pools into the lower legs becoming stagnant and enlarging the veins even more. As a result, you get leg pain, aching, restless legs, leg cramps, and leg swelling. The veins can also dilate and enlarge becoming visible beneath the surface of the skin as varicose veins.
After pregnancy, the veins go back to their pre-pregnancy size. The veins shrink back down and generally when this happens, the valves start working again and reflux goes away. That happens in most cases, but not all. In some cases, the veins do become smaller, but because they were stretched, they never ultimately return to a "normal" pre-pregnancy size.
For that reason, many women say that after they deliver their baby, their veins don't hurt as bad as they did while they were pregnant, but they do still hurt some. It's the same with the swelling. Post-pregnancy veins are still somewhat abnormal though not as dramatically enlarged.
The fact is that abnormal veins will worsen over time regardless of whether you have more children. They will worsen with time as you age, and they will worsen with subsequent pregnancies. Your vein's ability to "bounce back" will diminish after each pregnancy, increasing the likelihood of worsening symptoms over time.
For that reason, we recommend treatment once the baby is born in the first few months after delivery. This recommendation is based upon the fact that treatments are very safe and easy to go through and are very effective at relieving symptoms. Women do not have to suffer through their next pregnancy.