Who’s at Risk for DVT?

In addition to having early-stage vein disease, you’re at risk for developing DVT if you:

• Are overweight or obese (increased pressure on veins)
• Have high blood pressure
• Sit or stand for long periods
• Use birth control pills or systemic hormone therapy
• Smoke (narrows veins and leads to plaque formation)
• Have medical conditions such as cancer or inflammatory bowel disease
• Have a catheter placed in the vein

Your risk of developing DVT also increases if the condition runs in your family or if you’re over 50. 

While clots can further interfere with proper blood flow, the greater danger is if they break free from the vein wall, traveling through the bloodstream to the lungs. There, they can lodge in an airway, forming a pulmonary embolism (PE), a life-threatening condition.

1. Muscle contractions in the calf and thigh push the blood upward
2. A series of one-way valves that close once the blood passes through prevent backflow

Valves, though, can become damaged by injury or even by the force of high blood pressure. Unable to close completely, the blood succumbs to gravity, flowing backward along its path and pooling around the valves. This state is known as venous insufficiency, or chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) if it’s more than a temporary problem.

CVI is readily apparent by the engorged, colored swellings that appear on the calves and thighs — varicose veins.