What is Chronic Venous Insufficiency?
Venous insufficiency, also called venous reflux, is a condition that develops in your legs when blood pools in the legs due to abnormal leg vein valve function.
What causes Chronic Venous Insufficiency?
Your legs have a network of veins. These veins have dozens of one-way valves that help blood return back to the heart. Venous reflux disease (venous insufficiency) develops when one or more of these valves fail (i.e. leak), causing blood to flow backward in the leg veins. This results in blood pooling in the legs. The abnormal blood pooling is under increased venous pressure (hydrostatic pressure), which results in different symptoms, vein conditions and skin changes.