What causes most people's varicose veins?

Newton's thick skin: An apple hit newton on the head. If newton had sat under apple trees too often, he would need thick skin! and he had better have strong veins too! lucky people inherit genes for strong veins, but 15% of people don't. Gravity pressurizes vein walls and the weaker veins can't take the stress- they give out and dilate! one can't change genetics, but fight back with lifestyle and compression socks!

Heredity: 80% of the cause of varicose veins is genetic. That means that there really is anything terrible meaningful that you can do to change whether you will get them or not, unless you could exchange your grandparents for a new net. Everything else (standing for long periods of time, pregnancy, wearing compression stockings, etc.) can affect the severity of your varicose veins but the cause is genetic.

Leaking valves: Varicose veins are a very common problem and they are due to leaking valves (called reflux) usually in the saphenous veins. Think of your veins like a tree with the trunk being the saphenous vein and the branches being the varicose veins. A venous reflux ultrasound will make the diagnosis. Common causes of this are hereditary, aging and pregnancies in women. They are treatable with a laser.