McKeown Medical
167 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4SQ
The impact of your daily habits on varicose veins
Published by Dr Alex Vesey
Date posted — 8.05.25
Varicose veins are common, affecting up to 20% of the population in Scotland, but understanding their causes can help you manage them effectively. Daily lifestyle habits play a significant role in how varicose veins develop and progress. Knowing what influences vein health can empower you to make beneficial changes.
Understanding your vein health
Your veins perform a crucial job—they carry blood back to your heart. Small valves within your veins prevent blood from flowing backwards. However, when these valves weaken or become damaged, blood can pool, causing veins to swell, and over time, they become varicose. Typically, varicose veins appear as bulging, twisted veins, usually noticeable in the legs.
Habits and lifestyle choices influencing varicose veins
Certain daily habits significantly influence the likelihood of developing varicose veins:
- Extended sitting or standing: Long periods without movement increase pressure on your veins, potentially damaging valves and contributing to vein swelling.
- Lack of physical activity: Regular exercise promotes good circulation and strengthens vein walls. Inactivity can weaken veins, making varicose veins more likely.
- Excess weight: Extra weight puts additional pressure on your veins, particularly those in your legs.
- Wearing tight clothing: Clothes that constrict your waist or legs can limit proper blood circulation, exacerbating vein pressure.
- Excessive alcohol intake and smoking: Both habits negatively impact blood circulation, weakening vein walls and increasing the risk of varicose veins.
Making proactive changes—like incorporating regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding prolonged sitting or standing, and reducing alcohol and tobacco consumption—can significantly reduce your chances of developing varicose veins.
How can I get rid of varicose veins if I have them?
If you’re already noticing varicose veins, several effective treatments can help improve or eliminate their appearance and symptoms.
Natural Remedies:
Lifestyle adjustments like regular exercise, compression stockings, and elevating your legs can relieve symptoms but may not completely remove varicose veins.
Professional Treatments:
- Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA): Minimally invasive and highly effective, RFA uses heat to close problematic veins.
- Foam Sclerotherapy: A chemical solution is injected directly into the vein, causing it to collapse and fade from view.
- Microphlebectomy: Surgical removal of visible veins through tiny incisions, offering immediate cosmetic improvement.
- VenaSeal™: An innovative adhesive treatment that safely closes the affected veins without the need for heat or invasive surgery.
Varicose vein treatment at McKeown Medical
At McKeown Medical, our expert team specialises in the latest treatments for varicose veins, providing advanced care tailored to your specific needs. We are committed to helping you achieve healthier legs and regain confidence in your appearance and comfort.
At McKeown Medical, we have a team of experts with a wealth of experience treating varicose veins with the latest cutting-edge technology. To discuss our available treatment options, book a consultation today.
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As all of our patients know, the neck is the one part of the anatomy we always struggle to treat without surgery.
This patient underwent CoolSculpting to reduce some of the excess fatty tissue under her chin, followed by @sofwave.uk to tighten the skin. This is still early days for her, but we can see she is already well on her way to a great result.
When it comes to the neck, combination treatments are usually the answer to the best results.
What do you think?
We have an exciting new addition to the clinic - Visia skin analysis.
We’ve had a growing focus in the clinic on skin quality and skin health over the years with more and more investment in lasers and devices that improve skin quality as the foundation of what we do in aesthetic medicine.
The Visia is a great tool for helping us to analyse the skin and track progress of treatments over time. As well as doing a thorough analysis of all the components of sun damage and skin health, it also gives us an estimate of our ’true age’, which is a reflection of the condition of our skin compared with average for our age.
This is one of my own analysis images. It got my ’true age’ pretty much spot on with my chronological age, which is perhaps surprising given that I spent most of the 90s lying under a sun bed. What was interesting is that I scored really well on superficial pigment and redness, which is consistent with the fact that I love BBL and have a treatment a few times per year. I scored less well on deeper pigment and texture issues, which I guess is consistent with the fact that I’ve not had a Halo laser for nearly 4 years now. So I guess I will be booking another Halo for myself very soon!!!
We`re offering the Visia skin analysis free as part of our laser consultation process. If you`re interested in laser treatment, come in for a consultation with Dr Sharon and you’ll have your analysis done as part of planning your treatment strategy.
You’ll also be scanned again after your course of treatment so we can track your progress.
What do you think of this new addition to the practice?
I am very humbled to share these incredible reviews from our patients.
We are very fortunate to have a team who LOVE their work and will always go the extra mile to ensure our incredible patients are properly taken care of at every step of their journey with us.
We couldn’t do what we do without our incredible (and growing!) team and I am so proud of every one of them.
We have some very exciting developments on the horizon, so keep watching this space!
Laser eye rejuvenation! Thank you to our lovely patient for allowing us to share her photos, just one week after her laser eyelid rejuvenation.
Crepe skin, loose skin, wrinkles are all common signs of ageing around the eye which do not respond well to surgery. The optimal treatment for these problems is laser resurfacing - which is exactly what this patient had.
We’ve been performing these treatments in the clinic for several years, although I’ve recently modified the technique to achieve incredible results with less downtime.
What do you think?
Here’s another fantastic result from our phenomenally talented plastic surgeon, @bramhallplasticsurgery .
As we age, the eyebrows naturally descend which allows excess skin to fall into the upper eyelids. The two main surgical options to address this are a brow lift, an upper eyelid lift (upper blepharoplasty) or both, but for many patients the most appropriate option is also the simplest: to leave the brows exactly where they are and address the excess skin at the eyelids alone.
Upper blepharoplasty is a straightforward procedure with scars hidden in the natural eyelid crease, making them very hard to see once healed. Brow lifts are usually more involved, often require a general anaesthetic, and tend to create a more noticeable change to the face.
The aim with upper eyelid surgery is subtle improvement - looking fresher and more rested, without it being obvious that you’ve had anything done.
This 42-year-old gentleman had a bilateral upper blepharoplasty under local anaesthetic and is shown here six months after surgery.
What do you think?
With darker evenings and fewer social engagements, January is a great time to think about treatments which benefit from a little down time or those that will deliver their best results by spring.
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Which treatments are you planning?
Another year, another round of incredible transformations from our team at McKeown Medical!
Eye bags banished, jowls lifted, skin refined, veins gone. Thank you so much to all of our patients who have allowed us to share their photos with you and thank you to our incredible team who work so hard to take care of every patient who trusts us with their care.
Here’s to 2026 and another year of incredible transformations!
“But Daddies, WHEN is Santa coming? I want to wait up for him!”
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night 🎅🏻
Laser rejuvenation of the eye area can be an incredibly powerful tool for the right patients, especially those whose ‘bags’ are more about loose skin and fine lines, like this lovely patient here.
We treated her with full field ablation, which takes around 2 weeks to recover from. Her she is a few weeks later and you can see how much tighter the skin is, the crepey skin has gone and the fine lines have been ironed out. The patient is over the moon.
What do you think?
Join us on Instagram to keep up with the latest results and expert insights from the clinic team.
Our dedicated team of experts are on hand to help you as you navigate your journey with us.
When you first make contact with us you will be assigned your own personal Patient Relationship Manager. They’ll start by understanding your needs and liaising with our doctors to book you an appointment with the most suitable specialist. For any additional questions or needs, you can message or call them anytime and they’ll be delighted to assist you. Our entire team is dedicated to providing you with the best possible treatment and care tailored to your needs.
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