The Dermatology Series: Prominent Veins On The Cheek. Series 4 of 7

Prominent veins on the cheek

Leg veins become more prominent in pregnancy. Due to the extra weight in the abdomen with the baby and fluid in the uterus, this exerts an increase in pressure on the lower legs. Also vessels are more dilated in pregnancy and thus leg veins become obvious. The increased blood flow to the lower body in general also puts extra pressure on the larger leg veins who have to do more work than before, the reason that many women who are expecting also find that their legs feel tired and achy, even if they are exercising and remaining active according to their OB’s instructions.

What You Can Do During Pregnancy

Maternity compression hose can be a big help during pregnancy in general. These specially designed tights and stockings support the legs reducing pain and swelling and giving your new overworked leg veins a bit of extra help, and literally, support. Make sure that the products you choose are especially designed for pregnant women though. Futuro, Scholl and Juzo all make excellent compression products and they are usually easily available in medical stores.

What You Can Do After Delivery

Most often, the appearance of prominent veins improves soon after delivery, and even more so as you lose the ‘baby weight’. However, sometimes they can persist or become more of an issue years later. If too dilated and prominent, prominent leg veins – varicose veins – may cause pain, swelling, and make the legs feel’ heavy’. In very severe cases they can lead to more serious medical problems like embolism. When this happens, it is best to obtain a scan of the leg veins to assess the severity as well as to start wearing compression stockings to provide additional support.
For the small spider veins on the legs as well as prominent veins found on the face, laser removal can be performed to diminish the veins and improve the appearance on the skin.