Leg Veins Work: Valves and Blood Flow: How It Works, Explained Simply

Video Transcript

Your legs face a daily challenge: moving blood upward, against gravity, all the way back to your heart. Arteries carry blood down into your legs. Veins carry it back up. Looking inside a leg vein shows how that return trip works. Along the vein sit one-way valves. Each has two thin leaflets that open to let blood pass upward, then close so it cannot fall back down. Your calf muscles do the pushing. Every step squeezes the deep veins and drives blood toward the heart. Deep veins run within the muscle. Superficial veins sit closer to the skin, and short connecting veins link the two systems. If a valve's leaflets no longer meet, blood leaks backward and pools in the vein below. Doctors call this reflux. Over time, that added pressure can stretch the vein and contribute to aching, swelling, and visible varicose veins. Healthy valves and a working calf pump are what keep blood moving in the right direction. This video is for general education only. It is not medical advice. Ask your doctor what's right for you.