I am frequently asked by my patients whether frequent exercises will aggravate or cause varicose veins.

The answer is no. On the contrary, walking and running is actually better for the health of your veins. The reason is that during walking and running, our calf muscles are actively pumping blood back to the heart. This will reduce pooling of blood in the leg and therefore reduced the distention of vein, thus prolonging the life span of your veins.

So if you ever need to stand or sit for prolong period of time, try to get up and walk around for 5 minutes at half hourly interval. If this is not possible, try to at least flex and point your feet repeatedly to activate your calf muscles.