McKeown Medical
167 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4SQ
Date posted — 19.12.25
Varicose veins are more common in women than men. While many people associate these bulging, twisted veins with ageing or long hours on your feet, few realise the important role hormones play in their development.
At McKeown Medical, we understand that your body is complex, and vein health is no exception. Hormonal changes throughout a woman’s life—from menstruation and pregnancy to menopause and hormone therapies—can significantly impact the integrity of your veins. In this article, we’ll explore how hormones influence vein function, and what this means if you’re considering HRT or contraception, or if you’re looking to manage varicose veins more proactively.
Varicose veins are enlarged, often rope-like veins that most commonly appear in the legs. They form when the small valves inside your veins stop working properly, allowing blood to pool rather than flow smoothly back to the heart.
Common symptoms include:
Risk factors include:
Hormones are chemical messengers that regulate many of the body’s systems, including your vascular system. Two key players in vein health are oestrogen and progesterone, both of which fluctuate significantly during menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.
Oestrogen
Oestrogen helps maintain collagen production and vein wall elasticity. While this sounds protective, high levels can actually weaken the structure of vein walls over time, especially during prolonged hormonal exposure (like in pregnancy or while taking hormonal birth control).
Progesterone
Progesterone causes smooth muscles, including those in your blood vessel walls, to relax. While this is crucial for various reproductive functions, it also leads to dilation of veins, which can contribute to valve dysfunction and pooling of blood.
Menstrual cycle
Many women notice that varicose vein symptoms, like swelling or heaviness, worsen at certain points in their cycle. This is usually due to cyclical hormonal shifts, especially in progesterone.
Pregnancy
This is often when varicose veins first appear. Pregnancy increases blood volume, places more pressure on leg veins, and causes hormonal changes that relax vein walls. Each subsequent pregnancy increases the likelihood of developing varicose veins.
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is commonly prescribed to ease menopausal symptoms. However, its impact on venous circulation is complex and depends on the type, dose, and route of administration.
Types of HRT
Some research suggests that oral HRT, particularly combined formulations, may increase the risk of developing varicose veins or worsening existing ones. This is likely due to higher circulating oestrogen levels, which can weaken vein walls and valves.
Topical or transdermal HRT (like patches or gels) may pose a lower risk, as they don’t undergo the same metabolic processing in the liver that oral HRT does. Women with existing varicose veins or a family history should discuss these options with their healthcare provider.
Like HRT, hormonal contraception—especially the combined oral contraceptive pill—can influence vein health. The increased oestrogen can:
Women who are predisposed to venous issues (due to family history, pregnancy history, or standing occupations) should consider lower-dose options or non-hormonal alternatives. If you’re noticing symptoms while on hormonal contraception, it’s worth speaking to a specialist to assess your options.
Whether you’re navigating menopause, using contraception, or planning a pregnancy, there are several strategies to help maintain vein health:
Lifestyle changes can slow progression, but once varicose veins develop, they typically don’t resolve without intervention. Fortunately, modern treatment options are minimally invasive, safe, and highly effective:
Varicose veins are common, especially in women, and hormonal fluctuations play a bigger role than many people realise. Whether you’re approaching menopause, planning a pregnancy, or reconsidering your contraception options, understanding how hormones affect your veins is the first step in prevention and treatment.
At McKeown Medical, we offer expert diagnostic services and a wide range of advanced treatment options. With personalised care and minimally invasive solutions, we can help you regain comfort, confidence, and peace of mind.
Varicose veins are common, but can easily be treated. At McKeown Medical, we have a wide range of treatment options available that can help combat this issue. Discuss which treatment may be best for you and book a consultation with our team today.
Stay proactive about your health. Discover the essential women’s health screenings recommended in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.
...Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) can be life-changing for many women, offering relief from debilitating menopause symptoms such as hot flushes,...
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Stay proactive about your health. Discover the essential women’s health screenings recommended in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.
...Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) can be life-changing for many women, offering relief from debilitating menopause symptoms such as hot flushes,...
Here’s another gorgeous upper blepharoplasty result from our phenomenal surgeon, @bramhallplasticsurgery.
This patient is 62 years old and came to us for upper eyelid surgery just 2.5 months ago. Russell performed the procedure while she was awake with just a few numbing injections. Here at the clinic we can offer facial surgery with local anaesthetic for those who want to remain awake, or with deep sedation for anyone who’d prefer to sleep throughout (without the downsides of general anaesthetic!)
Thank you to this patient for allowing us to share her fabulous result - her scars are already settling beautifully and will continue to fade over the next 12 months.
What do you think?
Our resident superstar breast surgery expert Dr Kavita was asked to talk about trends in breast surgery on BBC Radio Scotland today. This was Kavita’s first ever live interview and we thought she nailed it!
What do you think?
And this is why combination treatments always win!
This lovely patient is in her 50s and was noticing all of the classic signs of ageing. She was starting to see some jowls forming, the neck was becoming more saggy and she felt she was looking tired.
At this stage in the ageing process it is not one thing that is responsible for causing the tired expression, its a combination of changes that are working together which is why we need a combination of treatments to target it effectively.
We did some sofwave treatment first to tighten the skin on the face and neck. Sofwave is very effective at tightening the skin, but remember: the skin is only the outer layer of the face, so we supported the treatment with some volume replacement in the deeper layers.
I decided to post her selfie style before and afters as well as her clinical pictures so you can see how it looks in real life, as well as the clinical up-close detail. The patient is over the moon with her results.
What do you think?
Here is another beautifully balanced deep plane face and neck lift by the skilful @bramhallplasticsurgery.
The deep plane technique, as the name suggests, works at a deeper level, repositioning the underlying structures of the face and neck rather than simply tightening the skin. By addressing the deeper tissues, we can restore more natural proportions, refine the jawline, and create a smoother, more defined contour beneath the chin - especially when the patient moves or bends their neck forward.
To achieve this impressive improvement in the neck, even in flexion, Russell reduced the deep fat (from under the muscle), trimmed and shaped the salivary glands and reconstructed the muscles of the neck to create a rejuvenated result. This is a much more sophisticated procedure compared with a standard face and neck lift.
At just 2 months post-op, her result is already beautifully balanced. The jawline is sharper, the neck more sculpted, and everything sits in harmony with the rest of her features. Scars are settling well and will continue to soften over time.
She may choose to refine things further with laser resurfacing for skin quality and subtle volume restoration in the mid-face, but even at this stage, the transformation speaks for itself.
Thank you to our patient for allowing us to share her journey.
What do you think?
Thank you to this lovely patient for allowing us to share her beautiful result from the talented @bramhallplasticsurgery.
This patient is just 2.5 months after upper eyelid surgery, and already looking incredibly fresh and natural. The scars are settling very well and will continue to soften over the coming months.
The incisions are carefully placed within the natural eyelid crease, making them very difficult to see once healed. Excess skin has been removed to open up the eye area, while maintaining a soft, natural appearance.
A small amount of muscle was reduced at the outer part of the eyelid to address hooding, without affecting the central area. This helps preserve a youthful fullness above the eye. There has also been a conservative reduction of the lateral brow fat to further refine the contour. This highly tailored, bespoke approach to surgery is the attention to detail that lies at the heart of our clinic’s approach and philosophy.
As with many patients, her anatomy meant these changes developed earlier than expected. In the right cases, surgery at a younger age can deliver a subtle but very impactful improvement.
What do you think?
Happy Easter from our excited little bunnies 🐣🐰
Thank you to our lovely patient for allowing us to share these photos.
This is just 4 weeks after her first session (of three) with Juläine and we’re already starting to see a soft return of fullness and improvement in skin quality.
Juläine is not a traditional filler. It works by stimulating your body’s own collagen production, gradually restoring structure, firmness and elasticity from within.
This is just the beginning. As collagen continues to rebuild over the coming weeks and months, results will become more noticeable with improved support, smoother contours and a natural, refreshed appearance.
The patient is delighted with her progress so far. What do you think?
And this is why HA fillers have never gone out of fashion in our practice!
This lovely patient had all the classic signs of volume loss in her face and there is no other non-surgical treatment that can address this quite as quickly, effectively and non-invasively as HA filler. Of course, it needs to be carefully and sensitively applied.
This patient had a total of 10mls of HA as well as some wrinkle relaxing on the upper face. She is delighted with her restoration. What do you think?
Upper eyelid surgery isn’t just for ageing eyes! Some patients naturally have excess upper eyelid skin from a young age due to their anatomy, like this 29-year-old patient who had a congenital upper eyelid fold and recently underwent an upper blepharoplasty with the ever-talented @bramhallplasticsurgery.
The excess eyelid skin rested directly on her eyelashes, causing irritation and a persistent feeling of heaviness around the eyes which had been bothering her for several years. Upper eyelid surgery can address both functional symptoms and aesthetic concerns, helping patients achieve a lighter, more open eye appearance.
This patient is just 7 weeks after surgery. At this early stage of healing the scars are still maturing and in younger patients this process can take slightly longer. The incision is placed within the natural eyelid crease and as healing progresses the scar typically fades and becomes extremely difficult to see, often blending into the natural eyelid fold.
She`s delighted with the results so far, and we`re grateful to her for allowing us to share her results with you.
What do you think?