Muscle Pump or "Peripheral Heart".

The fact that we do not usually faint when we sit up or stand up shows that the blood does usually get back to the heart.

With the gravitational pressure pushing down on the blood in the leg, there needs to be a pump that pushes the blood back from the ankle and lower leg into the pelvis from where it can be helped back to the heart by breathing.

The Leg Pump - which is often called the "muscle pump" or "peripheral heart" - depends on:

1] Movement - of the leg and particularly the ankle

2] Valves - situated in the veins.

Virtually every problem associated with venous disease (ie: varicose veins, leg aching, venous eczema, lipodermatosclerosis and venous leg ulcers) are caused by a FAILURE OF THE MUSCLE PUMP.

Therefore, I call of of these conditions "Leg Pump Failure" - showing that it is a serious condition - in contrast to the usual (and incorrect view) that Varicose Veins are just cosmetic.

As the leg pump is so central to venous disease, I will go through it slowly to show how it works and where it goes wrong.