Showing Veins In Hands

[sarct]

Is it typical to have th veins in your hands get real prominent? They look kind of creepy. I think it's due to the warm weather right now. My hands feel tight and my veins are huge and right to the surface. I was just wondering if this was a pots thing or something else. My hands just feel real tight and kind of like they would when I am retaining water, but they don't appear to be.

[Sophia3]

Yes. part of pooling.

If I raise a hand over my head for several seconds, they get less pronounced.

I never had this years ago..

[Ernie]

Hi,

Many people who are healthy can show their veins in their hands. It's not necessarily a sign of POTS.

[ajw4790]

Hi!

I agree that it is a normal thing for many. It could be part of aging , maybe loss of skin pigmentation, or a loss of weight. Also, if it is warmer out your veins are going to be dilated or bigger and possibly then more noticible. Also, have you recently changed up meds, I think meds like Midodrine may have this affect? Kind of like the Niacin flushing affect. But, it is always possible it is related like with blood pooling etc., but by itself I do not think it is anything to worry about.

Due to your hands being tight, it may be blood pooling or inflammed some how? If it keeps up, maybe just mention it next time to your dr.

Hope they feel better!

[sarct]

Hey, the hand over head thing worked great. Thanks. They go away almost instantly, but come back once the hand is down. It's so unsightly. This just started yesterday. I am not on any meds right now as the zoloft I was on was causing horrible gastro issues. I think it might me the heat. Not sure.

[flop]

Hot weather is the likely cause of prominent veins. When the weather is hot your body needs to cool itself down, the best way is for it to cool the blood by directing warm blood to the surface of the skin to loose heat then the slightly cooler blood goes back to the warm internal organs, picks up heat there then goes back to the surface to cool again. a kind of neat internal cooling system. Think of it as your body doing what it needs to keep you cool rather than what it looks like - most people develop prominent veins in the heat.

ajw is quite right that having low body weight contributes to prominent veins - have you noticed super skinny Madonna's hands?

Lifting your hands in the air reduces the appearance of veins because gravity will pull the blood downhill away from elevated hands, but when they are down by your sides gravity will pull blood downhill into your hands. Try holding one hand up and one down then quickly bring them together and compare veins and colour - quite a difference, huh?

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[Mary P]

I've had prominent hand veins for countless years now. At first I thought they were some sort of varicose vein. I notice them in other slim people as well, but I never had them when I was younger and slim. I think age and slimness both play a part as time goes by. Perhaps there are other factors as well like thinning skin.

They become much more prominent in hot humid weather. I've never had any tight feeling in my hands and I don't think they present a health problem.

[ajw4790]

Yeah, part of the reason I mentioned aging is due to thinning skin. Thanks for explaining more!

I have not seen Madonna's hands... interesting!

My dads veins are super prominent, like bulging out and you can visually see his pulse! For him it is due to age, and he is super skinny. He is an overally obsessive, stressed out, vegan that does a lot of yoga. So, the reasoning for his is not anything abnormal... although he needs to gain some weight!

[helen.t]

I have swollen veins in my hands a lot too especially in the heat and when I get my blood pressure taken the pain in the veins in my hands and arms can be horrendous. Sometimes I think that makes my BP go up so much at times. Could this be right and does anyone else suffer from this pain when getting BP taken? Helen

[flop]

Often the pain from having BP taken is if the cuff is inflated too much. Ideally ask the nurse to do a manual BP instead of using an automatic BP machine. If the nurse feels the pulse at your wrist whilst inflating the cuff and only inflates it to 10-20mmHg above where they can no-longer feel the pulse then it should be much less painful. Unfortunately some people just pump the cuff up way high and listen for the sounds. Also some automatic machines are "smart" and look for the pulse disappearing, others just inflate to a set pressure - I can remember being in loads of pain and on looking at the machine it was set to inflate to 220mmHg more than double my systolic blood pressure!

Madonna - a lot of pictures of her have her hands airbrushed, but if you find a picture of her in the sort of magazine that shows stars bad points then you will see that she is really skinny and her hands have wrinkly skin with bulging veins. If there is very low bodyfat from exercise or diet (or both) then there is no fat between the skin and the veins so they appear even more prominent.

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[helen.t]

hi, Thanks Flop, yeah, my hands are very thin and my Dr told me many years ago that I had a lot of muscle wasteage in my hands and wrists so maybe that doesn't help with pain and swollen veins. Also my BP tends to be on the high side especially when I've had to wait for a while to see the doctor which won't help the cuff inflation thing. Sometimes I feel as if my veins are going to burst, it is horrible. Helen

[morgan617]

Many normal people who stay well hydrated have prominent veins all over. Mine can be so flat you can't see them one day and the next look like aliens have invaded. I wouldn't worry about it personally, however it is kind of nice when they are prominent and you need an IV. I have one site they can poke and it would be nice to have more options... morgan

[flop]

If your veins go into hiding when you need an IV starting (as they often do when POTS is flaring up) I have picked up a couple of tricks over the years.

1) get the nurse to put on the tourniquet (make sure it is not so tight that is stops the pulse being felt at the wrist) then let your arm dangle over the side of the bed so that gravity helps the veins fill with blood.

2) either have a bowl of warm water to soak your hand in or a hot water bottle to put on your hand (in the ER a surgical glove filled with warm water is often used). The warmth makes the veins more prominent.

3) if really struggling, a squirt or two of GTN (treatment for the relief of angina pain) over a vein can make it much more prominent - if this trick is used make sure that the nurse wipes off the GTN with an alcohol wipe before starting the IV as something in the GTN stings like crazy if it gets through the skin!!

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