Hi Chris,

That is quite interesting. I wonder how tight these "skins" are? The
socks I have (knee high) are available in thigh high versions as well.
The ones I have are rated as 15-20 mmHg. I don't know what those units
are, but I assume they are a measure of how hard they compress the
legs. They are quite sheer and I wear them under a thin wool sock
while skiing.

Hi Joseph,

I have yet to try "skins" on, so I can't really comment, but fiddling
with them in the store, they feel fairly tight, certainly on the same
order of magnitude as the TEDS type stockings you're describing (which
do indeed come in knee-high and thigh-high versions).

The units are millimetres of mercury, a measure of pressure. The SI unit
is the Pascal, but certain pressures (blood pressure, etc.) are still
expressed in equivalent mm of mercury (Hg) hence the mmHg abbreviation.
Sometimes you'll also see cmH2O (centimetres of water) used.

Normal central venous pressure is bugger-all, but the venous pressure in
your legs can be markedly higher, due to the pressure of the column of
blood above it (gravity's a bitch). Normally the system of valves in
your veins alleviates this, by preventing the weight of the blood above
the valve from pressing down on the blood below the valve, and adding to
the cumulative pressure below.

In varicose veins, some of these valves no longer function correctly,
and in particular, the valves of the so-called perforating veins (the
ones that link the big, deep veins in your calf, to the superficial ones
you can see and feel) are faulty. This leads to blood from the large
deep (and much higher pressure) veins "leaking" backwards into the
smaller, weaker/less well supported superficial veins, adding
dramatically to the pressure in them and leading to further valve
failure in those superficial veins.... hey presto... varicose veins.

Unfortunately it's something of a positive feedback problem.

Surgery, in appropriately skilled hands, can make dramatic improvements
in both appearance and performance for someone in your situation, but
make sure you ask lots of questions and possibly even look at
before/after photos of patients if the surgeon has them available.

Kind regards,
Chris Cole