Archive · 9 Aug 2026
Standing too long can damage veins, doctors warn
Your calf muscles work like a second heart in your body.
When you walk or squeeze them, they help push blood back up to your real heart.
If you stand still for a very long time, those muscles stop helping.
Then blood starts to pool in your legs like water in a puddle.
Too much pooled blood can hurt your veins and cause bumpy, twisted veins called varicose veins.
It can even cause a dangerous blood clot called deep venous thrombosis.
People who stand a lot at work, like nurses, teachers, chefs, and hairdressers, need to be careful.
To stay safe, you can walk around for a few minutes every hour.
You can also do calf raises or wiggle your ankles when you can't walk.
If you have big risks, a doctor may suggest special compression stockings to help your legs.
Prolonged standing causes blood to pool in the leg veins because gravity makes it harder for blood to return to the heart.
Calf muscles act as the body's 'second heart,' squeezing deep veins to push blood back toward the heart when you walk or flex them.
When the calf muscle pump is inactive, blood pooling can lead to varicose veins, leg swelling, chronic venous insufficiency, and deep venous thrombosis (DVT).
Higher-risk groups include nurses, surgeons, teachers, retail staff, factory workers, security personnel, chefs, and hairdressers, plus people with obesity, pregnancy, advanced age, or a family history of varicose veins.
Experts recommend walking a few minutes every hour, doing calf raises or ankle pumps, avoiding standing completely still, and using compression stockings only under a doctor's guidance.
- Who
- Gastroenterologist Dr Pal Manickam, who shared the warning in an Instagram video, and laparoscopic surgeon Dr Pankaj Kumar Hans of Asian Hospital, who confirmed the risks.
- What
- Explained that prolonged standing can cause blood pooling in the legs and lead to varicose veins, deep venous thrombosis, and other vein problems.
- When
- Recently; the article does not specify an exact date.
- Where
- The discussion was shared through an Instagram video and a news article; no physical location is specified.
- Why
- To raise awareness about the often-overlooked health risks of standing for long hours and how to protect vein health.
- Main health risk
- Blood pooling in the leg veins due to gravity during prolonged standing
- Possible conditions
- Varicose veins, leg swelling, chronic venous insufficiency, deep venous thrombosis (DVT), venous incompetence
- Body's 'second heart'
- Calf muscles, which pump blood back to the heart when active
- High-risk occupations
- Nurses, surgeons, teachers, retail staff, factory workers, security personnel, chefs, hairdressers
- Additional risk factors
- Obesity, pregnancy, advanced age, family history of varicose veins
- Prevention tips
- Walk every hour, do calf raises or ankle pumps, avoid standing still, maintain a healthy weight
- Treatment
- Compression stockings under a doctor's guidance for those at high risk of DVT
- Experts quoted
- Dr Pal Manickam and Dr Pankaj Kumar Hans