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Each year in the United States, 1.3 million women enter menopause, which sets them on a course that involves big and small changes in their bodies. Although side effects like hot flashes and vaginal dryness certainly grab the headlines, your reproductive hormones regulate several other areas of your health, including your vascular health.
One way these changes can play out is an increased risk for varicose and spider veins, which is one reason why women are almost twice as likely as men to develop varicose veins.
To shed some more light on the connection between varicose veins and menopause, we turn to Dr. Satjit Bhusri and the team at The Upper East Side Vein Institute. Let’s take a look.
Estrogen and your blood vessels
We know the role that estrogen plays in your reproductive health, as it’s responsible for ovulation, but these hormones are active throughout your body. A great example of this is the positive and protective effect that estrogen has on your vascular health, which includes:
Promoting elasticity in your blood vessels
Estrogen can help your blood vessels remain more elastic, helping blood to flow through more freely. Without this effect, you’re more prone to atherosclerosis, which is a narrowing and stiffening of the blood vessels that can hamper blood flow.
Vasodilation and smooth linings
Another way in which estrogen promotes better blood flow is its ability to keep the linings of your blood vessels smooth, so they don’t trap cholesterol plaques and debris. Additionally, estrogen promotes vasodilation, which opens your blood vessels to encourage better circulation.
Estrogen and your cholesterol levels
Your reproductive hormones also contribute to maintaining a better cholesterol balance by increasing the good cholesterol — HDLs — and lowering the bad — LDLs.
There may be more benefits of estrogen when it comes to your vascular health, as researchers continue to uncover ways in which these important hormones influence a woman's health.
Menopause and varicose veins
Estrogen can play a significant role in the health of your blood vessels. So, when the production of this hormone drops off after menopause, you become more vulnerable to major and minor cardiovascular issues.
On the minor side of the equation are varicose veins, which are usually more of a cosmetic concern than a medical one, but varicose veins can become more serious.
The good news is that our Vein Institute is designed to make quick work of postmenopausal varicose veins. We offer a suite of effective vein treatments that can rid your legs of these unsightly veins, giving you back those smooth legs you had before this hormonal transition.
To learn more about our suite of varicose vein treatments, we invite you to call our New York City office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at 212-752-3464. You can also click here to schedule your appointment online.